Initiation
by A Concerned Individual
Summary: There's no secret behind Kiki Callisto; she's a strange little artist doomed to a life of perpetual boredom. But it kind of makes you wonder, why only one other person will dare to trust her. Can Rudy and Penny tell the difference between friend and foe?
1. Prologue

Author's Note - Lora is starting another fanfic. I promise I will work on this one. Promise! See, see, look, my fingers aren't crossed… If I were lying, they would be.

Will be R/P-themed, but the pairing won't arise to a main genre, methinks. Yes, this is an OC story, so cliché, but I've never written one of these, so I figured it was high time I try! Doesn't everyone have their own OC fic? 

--

Initiation

Prologue 

--

Most students regarded lunch and recess as the two times during the school day where they could behave however they wanted, and have a chance to talk to their friends. Though this was true for both Rudy and Penny, they also had the additional privilege of being able to leave the musty old school behind. As soon as Mr. Wilter had left for the teacher's lounge, and there was no one else around, the two slunk over to the chalkboard with their sack-lunches in hand, and the masculine of the pair dug through his pockets until he found what he was looking for.

Rudy sketched a circular portal on the blackboard with his magic chalk. Effortlessly, he leaped through the open gateway, helping his female companion do the same after he'd made it all the way in. 

After about five minutes of searching (for, somehow, it never took long to find him), they managed to locate Snap, and the trio promptly set up their own little picnic somewhere in the grassy outskirts of ChalkZone City.

Little did they know, they were being _watched…_

More like stalked, actually.

"OH MY GOSH! It's the Great Creator!" Without warning, a crudely-drawn little chalk girl leapt out from behind the bushes, screaming with the passion of an aroused fan. She nearly plowed into an incredibly startled Rudy and co. as she came to a stop in front of them. "Hey, Rudy! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm finally meeting you in person!" She snatched his hand and shook it violently. "I'm like your number one fan! I've seen all your work, I've been to your museum, I've heard of all the wonderful things you've done to help people… you're my idol, by the way… And all this time I'd been wondering if I'd ever really get to meet you…"

She continued to prattle on, uttering ten words a second in her overexcited state. Trying to ignore the rabid fangirl, Penny leaned a little closer to Snap, so that her whispers wouldn't be heard by Rudy or his apparent fan. From the look on her face, she wasn't much enjoying the girl's presence. "Looks like _somebody's_ become an living legend here in ChalkZone." She jabbed a finger in Rudy's direction.

Snap cast a disapproving glance in the chalk girl's direction. "Yeesh. You could say that again."

The chalk girl was just finishing up her long, dwindling speech. She was looking up at Rudy through wide blue eyes, clasping both hands together and hopping from one foot to another as she tried to phrase her next question. "Anyway, um… C-Can I have your autograph?!! Oh please oh please oh PLEASE?!"

After taking in all this new info, Rudy was more than a little alarmed, but he smiled all the same. One hand ventured into his pocket and emerged with the magic chalk. "Sure!" 

He neatly signed his name on the air in front of him, and enclosed his written insignia in a box, which, upon completion, became a little sheet of paper. The chalk girl promptly snatched it from midair.

After a few zealous pants of amazement, she seemed to be at a loss for words, until finally, all her pent-up emotion erupted. "THANK YOU!!!" The scream sent Penny and Snap into spasms, but Rudy seemed flattered from all the attention. At least, he did, until the rabid chalk girl gave him a lung-crushing bear hug (Now fuming silently to herself, Penny gritted her teeth in agitation) to show her appreciation.

Rudy gasped desperately. "Um, you're welcome?" He choked out, breathlessly, his voice a dysphonic squawk.

With one last, crazed squeal, the chalk girl ran off across the field and towards the city, grasping the paper to her chest as if dear life depended on it. The trio watched her go with mixed emotions; most of them were forms of relief. 

Rudy finally found his voice, after the pressure had been lifted from his diaphragm, and sufficient oxygen could once again passage as normal. He rubbed his head sheepishly in light of what'd just happened (he realized Penny was still fuming). "Wow," A nervous strain was evident in his words. "Guess I have a bigger fan following than I thought."

Penny, though still a little cheesed off, tried not to ruin his mood. "Well, you are the first creator in ChalkZone, after all… You're known everywhere, here."

Snap's eyes enlarged a little; he coughed aloud as the piece of biscuit in his throat took a wrong turn.  "First? _Rudy?_ Haha! Hey, uh, historical inaccuracy there, Penny." He informed her in a boastful voice, as if proud that he had proven her wrong (this was no surprise, because the two were usually at each other's throats). 

The girl glanced away from her sandwich for a moment, blinking in slight alarm. "What do you mean? Rudy _isn't_ the first creator in ChalkZone?"

Rudy looked equally baffled. "Yeah, Snap, what's going on? I haven't heard about any others."

Snap sighed. "Remember what Biclops said the first time we ran into him? Magic chalk was once processed all over the real world. There were all kinds of creators. Most of them were just little kids, though. I mean, younger than you when you first arrived. None of them probably had any idea they were in another dimension."

"And how would you know all this? You didn't exist until the day I first entered ChalkZone."

Snap waved his hand dismissively. "Well, I've just heard stories. You know. I get around."

Penny rolled her eyes. "Uh-_huh_." 

Ignoring her comment, the little blue superhero continued. "Anyway, all those little kids were banished from ChalkZone after they nearly wrecked the whole place with their creations. Most of them were easy to push back to the real world. Not much of a fuss was made about it- maybe that's why you haven't heard." With a dismissive shrug, he popped another piece of biscuit in his mouth; then sat in hesitation for a moment, as if unsure whether or not he should continue. "…Of course, there was that one girl…." He trailed off, though, not bothering to finish his sentence, as the biscuit regained his full attention.

But now, Penny was interested. She looked at Snap through intrigued young eyes, waiting for him to continue. "A girl?" 

Snap, still engrossed in his eating, gave a little nod. "Yeah." 

"What happened with her?" Rudy asked, a little curious himself.

"Yes, do tell." His genius counterpart agreed.

Snap sighed - they were both interested in the story. With a full audience, there was no escaping the situation. _Might as well give them the briefing_.  "She was one of the few -_if not the only_- of the original creators who grew to become attached to this place, and refused to leave even after Biclops banished humans."

"Understandable," Immediately - and as both of her friends had predicted - Penny sided with the girl. "What was her name?"

The little blue one hesitated. "Uh… well… We Zoners don't like to speak it."

"How are you supposed to tell the rest of the story if the heroine doesn't have a name? Besides, I don't see any harm in telling _us_." Penny pointed out.

"Yeah, Snap. You're among friends." 

So Snap, though still reluctant, conceded. "Her name is… _was_… Kyrene. But people around called her Lady Kyrene, or… Overlady… or Queen." The two kids who sat beside him realized his tone was gradually losing energy. "I wasn't around during her reign…"

"Woah, woah, woah! Reign? _Queen?_" Rudy looked lost. He wondered if Snap's story was _Chalk Queen_ all over again. "Was Kyrene some kind of royalty around here?"

"Not officially- but she had her own fortress, up on that hill. According to Biclops, and a couple other Zoners who were around in her time, she was really a good kid before it was commanded that she leave. That's when she went… a little loopy. And in her crazed, blind, and angry state-of-mind, she built her own little castle - not a particularly cozy one, either, I've been there - it still stands on that old hill, near the National Park. Rapsheeba and I went there once. We got snowcones, but the sun was too bright that day and-"

_So much for a lack of enthusiasm_. Penny waved a hand in front of his eyes, which were steadily beginning to glaze over. "Snap! Kyrene, remember?"

"Huh? Oh yeah… So, Kyrene had her own fortress. She lived there for a while, giving out orders to the people of ChalkZone like she owned the place… And no one dared defy her, because she still had magic chalk at her disposal. Her creations were large and demonic… No one wanted to tangle with them." A few seconds afterwards, Snap's gloomy face did a full one-eighty, and he switched back into typical Snap-mode. The arrogant voice and confidence returned. "It's too bad I wasn't around then - I could've given that Kyrene witch a good scrappin'! Rudy, why couldn't you have drawn me earlier?!" He gave the kid a gentle shove on the shoulder.

"Gee, Snap - I woulda tried, had I known." Rudy replied sincerely. But he returned the gesture jestingly.

Penny put down her sandwich, giving Snap a skeptical look. "Did you make all that up? You'd think we'd have heard _something_ about this before."

"Ahh… Most Zoners just don't like to talk about it. But it's 100% true, I assure you."

Rudy folded his arms across his chest, an amused smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "Oh, yeah. Just like that other story about the time you and Rapsheeba-"

A stray piece of biscuit (from Snap's direction) forcefully bounced off of his head, cutting him off; a definite cue to shut up, Rudy figured.

Penny raised a brow. "So, uh, Snap, how does that story of yours end?"

"Oh, I dunno." The blue boy replied with a shrug. Suddenly he didn't seem to care. "That Kyrene girl left after a few days. Just… vanished without a trace. Everyone thinks she kicked the can." 

"Wow, that was… anticlimactic." 

Ignoring her, Snap reached for another biscuit. "Yeah, sure, buckette. Hey, uh, Rudy? Think you could draw some butter, or something? I think we just ran out." 

Rudy perked up, as if happy that he were finally able to do something. "Coming up!" He withdrew some of his chalk and, without a thought put into it, doodled up several sticks of butter, and a couple jars of various other add-ons.

"Hold on, there, bucko! I didn't ask for an entire smorgasbord! …Although, hey, I'm not complaining…" With a giddy grin, Snap dug through the jars, carefully inspecting their colorful contents. "Lesse, butter… Jam… Hey, looks good so far, kiddo!" He was to regret that last comment as he picked up the final jar. An unreadable expression etched over his face. "What the- …oh, it's mayonnaise. Wait a sec, mayonnaise? For a biscuit?" 

Both boys stared at each other for a moment, equally baffled looks on their faces, before bursting into hysterical laughter. Penny watched them both, a little awkwardly, feeling insanely out-of-place. Was she supposed to think mayonnaise was funny? Mayonnaise on a biscuit wasn't funny. A little uncustomary. But definitely not _funny._ Didn't anyone agree with her?

She forced an nervous giggle, feeling it fit to add her own little remark. "I'll never understand you two."

--

A/N: It's going to pick up after this… Really… o0;; 


	2. Your New Fan Club

Author's Note - And now, to introduce the most arrogant OC I have ever created. Teh KIKEH. Guaranteed to get on your nerves by the end of the fic.

--

Initiation

Part One

--

For the third time in about twenty seconds, Rudy turned to stare at the clock on the wall. There were still two hours remaining in the school day. Two hours until his doom, when Reggie Bullnerd was going to pound him flat, just like he'd sworn that he would.

With a gulp, he shot a nervous glance at Reggie, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Maybe the preteen tyrant had forgotten about their little "appointment". But these hopes were soon trampled upon as Rudy realized that Reggie was staring straight at him, his face twisted into a hideous grin as he pounded his fist against the palm of his other hand. He clearly _hadn't_ forgotten.

"Only two more hours, Tabootie!" The bully hissed under his breath, so Mr. Wilter wouldn't hear. "I hope you've got an ambulance standing by!"

There was an audible _whump_ as Rudy's forehead hit the desk in front of him. Maybe he'd just die right there, and save Reggie the trouble. 

It was a gloomy day. Everything seemed slow, dreadful, and the entire city was curtained with depressing gray clouds that seemed to linger in the sky. The less-than-pleasurable weather was only foreshadowing the dawn of a very significant event: a short, but seemingly endless era of time that Rudy and Penny were about to wish they could forget. But first, they had to meet the girl responsible for it all. And that time was drawing ever nearer.

"A-_hem_!" Mr. Wilter, at the head of the class, cleared his throat. He only did that if he had an announcement to make, or if someone was misbehaving. "Rudy Tabootie! Sit up and get your head off your desk!"

Without hesitation, Rudy obliged. His teacher was a frightening person when provoked.

"Students, I have an announcement." Apparently, Mr. Wilter wasn't finished talking. "As of today, we have a new student joining our class. She just transferred here from a school in Texas. Everyone, this is Kiki Callisto." He gestured towards the door.

Every head in the room turned. Standing in the doorway, fidgety in the spotlight, looking as if she had a million other places she'd rather be at the moment, stood a rather tall girl clad in light tones of purple. Rudy took a quick glance at her, hardly caring, and promptly returned his attention to his desk, where he started to doodle on a piece of notebook paper. Penny, however, kept her eyes on the new student in the doorway. She was curious to see how the newcomer would react.

"…Where do I sit?" The girl asked, in a monotonous voice that clearly reflected her boredom.

"…Hmm… There's a free seat between Penny and Michelle. Why don't you sit there?" Mr. Wilter motioned towards the empty chair.

"Mmmkay." Kiki plopped down in her seat, set down her stuff, and instantly she had melted into the crowd of other bored schoolchildren. All thoughts were drawn away from her existence and refocused on the lecture Mr. Wilter was giving.

"The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776." The schoolteacher droned, in a voice devoid of any emotion. "Remember that - 1776. There's going to be a quiz on this come Friday."

Penny hated to disrupt the lesson, but she'd already memorized the main ideas of the lecture. She leaned over in her chair to whisper to the new student. She couldn't help herself. It'd been months since the last new kid. In fact, Penny herself had _been_ that last one. Besides… There was something about the new kid's aura that just enticed Penny to learn more about her. "Hi, Kiki. I'm Penny Sanchez."

Kiki waved, but didn't smile. She was either shy, nervous, or genuinely uninterested. "Hey."

Penny shot a quick glance at Mr. Wilter. The ramblings continued; something about Thomas Jefferson. She turned her attention back to Kiki. "…Was it fun living in Texas? I've heard that it doesn't have nearly as many deserted regions as common depictions can lead people to believe…"

The other girl blinked, a little confused, but never took her eyes away from her desk or the things upon it. Not knowing what to say, she replied, "You know, it's _really_ not any different from here in Minnedakota County." With that, a very bored Kiki started to fiddle with the zipper on her binder. "And before you ask, people in Texas don't always speak with that ridiculous accent."

"I wasn't going to ask about that." Penny glanced over her shoulder. "What're you doing?" 

"Drawing."

Kiki started to doodle on her paper, reminding Penny very much of what Rudy did to occupy himself every day. 

"Is it a hobby of yours?" Penny tried to catch a glimpse of Kiki's handiwork.

"I guess so."

"Do you draw anything in particular?"

Kiki hesitated. "Eh… Mostly just… mythical stuff… You know, stuff that doesn't exist. Dragons and phoenixes and creatures like that." 

"Fascinating."

Penny leaned over in her chair to see what Kiki was drawing. Instantly, she was amazed. True, Rudy was also a talented artist, but he was more of a cartoonist, and he didn't like realism, nor did he show much interest in mythology. The new girl was obviously his opposite. The long, winding snake on her paper seemed like it had sprung forth from an old book of Greek legends. "That's incredible!" She mused aloud… Emphasis on the 'aloud'. "I can't believe you did that without looking at anything!"

Suddenly, Penny paused, sensing something wrong. The room seemed… quiet all of a sudden. Maybe because Mr. Wilter had stopped talking.

"A-HEM. Penny Sanchez! Usually you're not the one setting a foot out of line. I'm afraid I'm going to ask you to stay after class."

Penny quickly faced the front once more, flushed with embarrassment. Kiki never once looked up, or paid any mind to what was going on. She just kept on drawing.

"And _you_! You should know better than to be drawing _cartooooons _during my lecture!" 

"Uh-" Kiki quickly covered her paper with her arms, and glanced upwards in alarm. But Mr. Wilter hadn't been addressing her. He'd instead been talking to a boy a few seats over. Her shock slowly melted away as she lowered her gaze to her paper once more…

_…Huh?_

She focused on that boy again, the adrenaline returning. The tawny brown hair, green eyes, and buckteeth… Was it him? 

"Sorry, Mr. Wilter!" He babbled, shoving his paper in his desk and facing the front once more. 

"That's more like it, Mr. Tabootie. I don't want to have to give you _another_ detention…" 

Tabootie… Had _that_ been his name? She made a mental note to ask Penny about him later on.

--

_BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGG!_

The bell signified either of three things: Rudy's imminent doom, Penny's first ever detention and to almost everyone else, sweet dismissal. 

"I know this is your first fault all year… But I should really start enforcing the rules." Mr. Wilter explained to Penny. He was, by nature, always a little nicer to the smarter kids because of the good reputation they earned him. "Now, all you have to do is stay behind and tidy up the room a little. Clean the chalkboard, straighten up the desks and sweep behind Reggie's work area. I can't get those gum stains out myself."

Penny groaned, gaping up at the ceiling in desperation as if her detention sentence were a curse to rival death row. "Yes, Mr. Wilter."

Kiki, the only other one remaining in the classroom, rose from her seat, a few used pages of notebook paper under her arm, her backpack slung around her shoulders. She hadn't planned on talking to anyone, but… "Guess I'll see you tomorrow, Penny."

Penny gave a half-hearted wave as the new girl walked outside. 

--

Rudy tried to slip away, unseen, from the front doors of the school. As long as no one saw him, Bullnerd would have no way of trailing him. He wouldn't get beat to a pulp, and as a result, he would make it home unharmed, without having to worry about his physical being again until the next day. Then, of course, the problem would only repeat itself, but he tried not to think about that.

As Rudy walked along the borderline of the school, hugging the wall as he continued on, constantly looking over his shoulder, he failed to watch where he was actually going. The paranoid little artist bumped into Reggie Bullnerd, who immediately snagged him by the collar.

The smaller boy stared up at his opposition and gulped, forcing a half-smile. "Oh, uh… hi there… Bullnerd." He greeted innocently, in an attempt to cover up his fear, but it came out as a high-pitched squeak. "Didn't expect to see you around…"

"Nice to see you, _Tabootie_." Reggie responded, with just as much cheer in his accented voice. "Hope you're ready to rumble." 

Not another word was spoken as the bully dragged his captive behind the school, where no other students cared to tread, and pinned him against the wall to keep him from running away. Rudy considered calling for help, but he knew none of the other kids would dare to mess with Reggie, and what few teachers they did have at their school never came outside so early. Besides, they were behind the school, and no one would be able to hear him anyway. He was a goner.

_All because I called Reggie a moron at lunch today…_

"Can't we talk this over?" Rudy pleaded in vain. "Violence never solves anything! In fact-"

"Shut up!" Reggie demanded angrily, the taunting sarcasm lost in his voice. "You've been bothering me for a long time, Tabootie, and we're going to get things settled once and for all! And don't bother yelling for help, because _no one_ comes around _this side_ of the school!"

And, ironically, just as this was said, Kiki strolled by, yes, around _that side_ of the school. Maybe she'd just heard the yelling going on back there, and was avidly curious to find out just what was going on (if it was something interesting, who would want to miss it?) But, on the other hand, maybe she had been trailing them from the start, and was only just now making her presence known. She stopped beside the two boys, staring down (for she was quite tall) at them with a faked lack of interest.

Reggie turned his head and gawked upon realizing that Kiki was watching them. He had not been expecting an audience… "Humina, humina, humina!" He backed away from Rudy uneasily. "We were just…"

"Save it. You were just about to beat him up."

The bully growled. "What gave you that idea?!"

"Other than the fact that you had him pinned against the wall, and were seconds away from punching his face in before I came along?"

Reggie was just irritated, now, and no longer concerned about the possibility of Kiki tattling on him. The consequences were insignificant. He was just angry at her for interrupting what would undoubtedly be the most enjoyable whomping he'd ever given anyone. "Get lost, new kid!" He bellowed, turning his back on her. "Go on home and forget about this, or I can arrange an appointment for you, too!" He never took gender into account when he decided to give someone a thrashing. 

He turned to face Rudy again- with only one problem. Rudy was gone. In fact, he was probably almost halfway home. 

"RUDY TABOOTIE!!!" 

Kiki snorted - from amusement or disgust, Reggie couldn't tell - and began to walk off. "Hey, 'tubby. Better luck next time. Shouldn't turn your back on people like that."

"WHAT?!" Reggie made his way in front of the retreating Kiki, blocking her path with his pompous bulk. "And where do you think you're going?!"

She gave a casual shrug. "Home." 

"Then why'd you come around this way? This is the back of the school!"

"I was exploring the school's borders a little more. Wasn't a crime last time I checked." She effortlessly shoved him out of her way. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

Reggie felt his blood boil with rage as he watched her start to walk away. Guided by blind fury, he pursued her, his arm drawn back as to strike…

_WHUMP._

No blood was drawn, but it was a crushing blow, powerful enough to stun... He stood there in shock, fingering the already-bruised place on his cheek where Kiki's fist had left its mark. _How had she…?_

The once-proud bully raced across the pavement, clutching his face in agony. "Mommmmmmmmmmmyyyyy!" Kiki watched him frolic in despair, chuckled slightly to herself, and continued on her way again. Such a humiliating little display was certainly amusing, but she'd seen the likes of that particular situation far too many times already, and it had already lost most of its zip. 

She waved to Bullnerd one last time before he and the school were behind her. "It's a shame you had to catch me on a bad day!"

--

A/N: Wow. That took longer than expected. ^^;; I'm still plotting, so feh.


	3. During Every Show

Author's Note - And thus the third segment begins. But that's not all I wanted to babble about this week! CZ finally got its own category! This makes Lora very happy and a result, she will probably update her fanfiction more often. As for you, Spice of Life… You said you might write a fic for this show. That would make Lora even happier. You too, wallofvoodoo. 

Henceforth, I am finished with my daily rambling and am ready to continue writing the actual story. 

--

Initiation

Part Two 

-- 

The door opened, and then it shut. Someone could be heard dashing up the stairs at record speeds, then marching along the upwards hallway until suddenly the footsteps came to a halt.

It was Rudy, he was home, and he was ALIVE.

All of the day's problems seemed to melt away as he slipped himself through the freshly drawn portal, and landed in a squat on the chalky ground below him. He felt a little guilty goofing off while Penny was doing detention, but it wasn't like detention was a foreign universe to him either. He'd suffered so many D-Halls in the past year that he'd lost count. Anyway, no longer concerned about school, the boy began to wander about the two-dimensional world, searching for his little blue sidekick. It probably wouldn't take long.

"Snap? …Snap?" There was a longer pause, as Rudy's gaze darted to and fro anxiously. He finally spotted his creation, running about in the distance, and it appeared something was chasing him. "…SNAP!"

After a moment's thought, Rudy doodled up a simple butterfly net - for Snap's pursuer didn't seem very large at all - and gave chase, brandishing his net around in the air wildly. As he got closer and closer, he realized that his drawing's attacker was a tiny little pixie with sharp, pointed wings. It was drawn very skillfully too. In fact, it was almost cute… well, except for its outrageously large fangs. Those teeth alone were a little bigger than the rest of its body.

"I thought you'd _nevah_ show up!" Snap cried upon noticing the boy. "Rudy… You gotta _draw_ something!" 

"One step ahead of ya." Rudy swung his net over the angry pixie, hoping to trap it as one would a bug. But the crazed little imp instead ripped through the wire-like netting with its amazing jaws, so quickly that the net's wielder dropped the handle in shock.

"This thing has gone berserk-o!" Snap helpfully started to explain. He'd stopped running, but was still fearfully keeping his distance. "I don't even know where it came from. I mean, what kind of kid would draw such a crazy little monster!?"

"You got me." Mind racing, Rudy doodled up a tennis racket, large enough to be threatening, but just small enough so that he could actually grasp the handle, and be able to hold it up for that matter. Normally he hated resorting to violence, but at the moment he didn't see anything wrong with the idea. That pixie was practically a piranha with wings. 

"Batter up!" With every ounce of power coursing through his veins, he swung the racket at the tiny little elfin creature, striking it square in the abdomen and sending it hurtling through the air with an angry scream. Unable to regain its control, it was swept across the skies and started to plummet into the background, no longer a threat.

Snap walked to his creator's side, smirking with contempt as he watched his foe getting dragged along the sky by its momentum. Both boys were panting from exhaustion. "…Nice chalkin', bucko." The blue one finally commented.

"I'm just glad there was only one of them." Rudy sighed, wiping the sweat off of his brow. "So, what are we gonna do today? You have anything planned?"

"Well, there's that new music group that's having a showing downtown, but…" Snap shook his head quickly. "Actually, Rudy, there were three of those things erased this morning."

"You mean the pixies? _Three?_ Oh geez. What happened to the other two?"

Snap shrugged. "Absolutely no idea. They're probably still out there, causing other people problems… But the important thing to remember is, they're causing _other people_ problems, and it shouldn't concern us in any way." 

Rudy bit his lip. "…Right…" He tried to take his mind off of the problematic pixies. Such would've been an easier task if Snap didn't continue to babble about them.

"Then again… That thing was insane. I'm lucky to be alive."

Rudy suddenly frowned as the events of the day all came flooding back to him. He still had that little problem to cope with. "Oh, I am too. Reggie made me his lucky victim at school today…"

"It seemed like you were always Bullnerd's favorite." Snap commented with a roll of his eyes (if possible with no pupils). "Come on. I wanted to show you something. You can tell me all about it as we get there. It's more of a nightclub, so we'll be heading towards NightZone." 

"How far is it?" Rudy interjected curiously. "If you want, I could make the journey a lot shorter…" He patted his pocket for emphasis.

"It's close enough to walk. Won't kill 'ya."

--

Kiki tried to calm her raging thoughts as she continued home. She'd mostly forgotten about Bullnerd at this point- he was just one of the many bullies out there, nothing special at all. But she couldn't control the flow of adrenaline as she thought about that quiet, brown-haired boy she'd seen at school that day. Was he really the one? The one she had been searching for almost her entire life? But there was no question about it - she knew for sure that it was he. 

The brooding blonde girl boarded a local bus, not caring to walk the rest of the ways - she decided she had much better things to do with her energy. Taking a few loose coins out of her pocket, she tossed her fare into the tray and plopped down into the first available seat, setting her backpack down beside her. As the bus's engines sputtered to life, and the hefty vehicle lurched forwards to continue its journey, the girl was already weary with boredom. She unzipped her bookbag and from it withdrew her portable chalkboard, with one small stick clipped to the easel. Clutching it in her palm, she started to doodle. The small chalkboard only had so much space, so it had to be something simple. She ended up drawing a chicken; a demonic, big-winged chicken with a long reptilian tail. The chicken's hooked talons took the longest to draw; Kiki wanted to ensure that she had drawn them in just the right shape and posture, because otherwise, they wouldn't be much good for grabbing and tearing at things. 

The final result pleased her, but nonetheless, boredom got the best of her and she wiped the little drawing away with the sleeve of her shirt.

--

"So, what's this Bullnerd business? It doesn't look like he smashed you up." Snap observed as the two continued on their way.

"I got away." Rudy replied, casually. "Actually, the new girl distracted him… Oh, we have a new kid at our school." He explained as an afterthought. A vague, thoughtful look drifted across his face. "I wonder what happened with them…"

"Say, Rudy, this new friend of yours, are you worried that Bullnerd may've - ah, never mind. He probably doesn't beat up girls."

"Oh, she's not my friend. I don't even know her. I hardly know her name! Kiki, I think it was." Starting to feel a little guilty again, he continued. "And… actually, Reggie doesn't care about gender when he hand-picks his victims…"

"Good thing she's not your friend!" Snap said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but still… Without her, I never would've gotten away." Rudy began to look more and more concerned. You could say he had a much more active conscience than most boys his age. "I hope Reggie didn't whale on her!"

"Don't worry about it, bucko. We're here to relax. Look, there's the Clam Bar just up ahead! I told you it wasn't far."

"The Clam Bar?! Does it serve clams?"

"They serve everyone."

As the two came nearer and nearer, Rudy paused just to admire the glistening neon sign that hung above the nightclub's glossy front doors. The hangouts in NightZone were always quite a sight, and this one looked to be just as creatively decorated as the others, if not more so. Snap dragged his creator along, eager to get inside.

Approaching the front doors, they were greeted by a couple of beautiful, scantily clad anthro-lobsters. Dorsela and Broila (as their nametags read) immediately advanced on them, closing in on their personal space.

"Welcome to the Clam Bar. Will you be staying with us?" The taller of the two, Broila, inquired of their guests.

Snap twiddled his gloved fingers sheepishly. "Yeah - table for two, please. Shellfish Ambition will be playing tonight, right?"

"That's right." Dorsela chimed in. "We can seat you right away."

The two lobsters each gripped a hand with their small, surprisingly gentle pincers and led them off deeper into the heart of the diner. 

"Ah, we're in luck, Rudy! I was afraid they'd been all full up." Snap blabbed to his friend as they were pulled along. "You _have_ to hear these guys! And the food here is great, too, but I guess you're no judge of that, since you humans can't eat ChalkZone food."

Dorsela and Broila dropped them off at one of the only unoccupied tables, which, fortunately enough, happened to be only yards away from the stage. 

"We'll drop by later to collect your order once we've tended to the other tables. Enjoy your night!"

Rudy thanked the two crustacean waitresses as they disappeared into the crowded restaurant. Snap was too busy having one of his moments.

"Can you believe it? Look how close we are to the stage! This must be the best seat in the whole house!" He prattled, bouncing up and down in his chair like an excited toddler. "Oh, I can't wait! You'll have to hear them for yourself, bucko!"

Rudy glanced about the stage excitedly, grinning widely. "Do you know when they'll get here?"

"Oh, anytime now! Look, they've already set up the stage! They only do that within twenty minutes of the musical performance!"

"…You come here often…"

"…Every other Wednesday, Fridays even. Sometimes I bring Rapsheeba."

_Snap sure has a lot of time on his hands_… Rudy propped up his head with one arm, setting his elbow on the table for support. He was ready to wait. In the meantime, he was content with just admiring the fine work on the table. Sure, it was still chalk, but it glistened like a clear little puddle and was decorated with all kinds of multi-colored seashells, many of which had found creative uses as dining utensils. For example, the lit candle was housed inside of one, and a few of the fancier shells were found lining the silverware.

"…This seems awfully fancy for a wild nightclub. Are you sure we'll be able to pay for this kind of thing…?"

Snap smiled mischievously. "You got the chalk, right? Money is never a problem as long as you're able to draw your desires into reality."

"Ah, right." It still seemed a little immoral.

Anyway, as they sat and waited, a fancy little crab in a tuxedo made his way on stage. He had black horn-rimmed glasses and a matching bowtie and immediately Rudy knew he had to affiliated with the restaurant. He picked up a microphone and began to speak into it, not a twinge of uneasiness in his voice.

"Hey-hey-heeeeey there Zoners! Are you ready for _Shellfish Ambition_?"

A round of crazed cheers broke loose from the audience. 

"See, they're a very new group and already they've got a solid fan base." Snap whispered to Rudy after the cheering had ended. "Trust me, bucko, they've got talent."

The tuxedo-clad crab ensued to have fun with the microphone. "I could stand around here talking - hey, what are announcers for? - but I know you'd all just rather get to the show!"

A second round of cheers arose, this time accompanied by wild laughter and loud whistles. The crab raised his claws, chuckling.

"And so, without further ado, here they are - ChalkZone's newest hit jazz club, the Shellfish Ambition!"

The curtains behind him were slowly drawn up, and with a clash of hazy blue mist, four long-haired crayfish (whose genders were up for debate) suddenly appeared on stage. All four were wearing dark glasses to conceal their eyes, and baggy gray jackets and jeans. Two of them had saxophones, the third played bass, and the fourth was stationed at a piano.

"Yeah, they look a little shabby, but wait 'til you hear them play." Snap murmured to his friend as the crayfish stood in silence. "They always wait a few seconds before they begin. It's to build the suspense."

…Suddenly, amidst the heavy eyes of the watchful crowd, and the four jazz players who were poised over their instruments, a mysterious gray smear appeared in the air above the audience. Then another, and another, as a vague outline slowly began to appear in the blurred air. Everyone knew what it was, too - someone new was being erased into ChalkZone.

"Talk about bad timing." Rudy muttered to himself.

The gray smudge in the air disappeared as the outline became complete, and the space between the lines turned from clear to colored as the Zoner was materialized. It was a very small person indeed; well, definitely not a person, as was evident as they fell to the ground. It was a chicken of some sort, with a lizard-like tail and hawk talons.

"Aren't you the Great Creator?!" Hissed a member of the audience. Despite what had been said, it took Rudy a moment to realize they had been talking to him. "Lock up that bird! Draw a cage, or something!"

But before anything could be done, the freshly-drawn chicken weaved its way through the tables, making its way towards the stage. The four confused members of the band slowly lowered their instruments, watching the little bird advance on them. Unbeknownst to the four musical crayfish, in the real world, birds and crustaceans were natural enemies. The chicken, on the other hand, seemed aware of this fact. With a simple flap of its wings, it hopped on stage, opened its hooked beak and bit into the leg of the bass-player.

"YOWWWWWWW!"

And that was all it took for panic to break loose as the little chicken, with some strange otherworldly power, single-handedly held off every member of the crowd who dared to try and capture it. 

"Looks like we got ourselves another situation, here, bucko!" Snap cried over the roar of the angry crowd. "You gonna draw something, or what?!"

--

A/N: There's gonna be more Penny soon… I promise… o0;; In case you're wondering, BTW, Kiki is not going to become a Mary Sue (Yeah, all authors say that, but I mean it! Really!) nor do I have no intentions of making her a criminal mastermind. Eleven-year olds don't operate like that.


	4. Eavesdropping In

A/N: Waitaminute… Spice of Life, did you write R/P, and not be able to submit? Did you write one? I read your review and I was like "OMG R/P!!!!!!!!!!!11111one *explode*" But I'd like to clarify that I interpreted it correctly. Can you not upload, or what? (Also, what I meant was, MOST 11-year olds don't operate like that. I imagine some of them do, heh)

…Oh yeah, and thanks to my… four (whoo…) reviewers for their… um… reviews. Yesh. They is very appreciated indeedy. I'm trying to finish all my stuff, which I will do eventually (but probably not in the near future).

--

Initiation

Part Three

--

Everyone feared Blasphemy. He was the lord of all things dark and evil, walked erect on two legs and had the ability to turn even the best of friends against each other. It was no wonder the entire town was bent on his capture. 

Presently, a screaming civilian fled for their lives from Blasphemy's icy-black grip as another one tried to hold him off with a pitchfork. It was to no avail; Blasphemy consumed them, feeding off their energy, absorbing his victims' thoughts and feelings and converting them into his own.

But what happened after that was a mystery, because Kiki still had to draw the next panel. She poised her pencil over the paper and thought about how to continue the plot…

A soft series of taps happened from the front door. Kiki thought about answering it, but ultimately decided she was far too lazy.

_Tap-tap-tap-tap._ "Kiki? You home?"

Groaning, the girl rose from her seat on the couch and made her way to the door. The person behind it clearly wasn't an adult; it was somebody her age, she could tell from the blurry shadow they cast on the front door's glass center-window.

She opened the door - and sighed. It was Penny Sanchez, the only person to be even halfway considerate to her all day. A simple "please go away, I'm very busy" wouldn't be the right thing to say to her.

"Hello, Kiki," Penny greeted, panting. You'd think she'd have just ran the Tour-de-France, and the bulging backpack over her shoulders looked to weigh fifty pounds. "I saw what happened back at the school. I came over to thank you on Rudy's behalf, in case he hasn't gotten the chance to himself."

_Oh, wonderful._ Kiki opened the door for her. "All right, come in. Looks like you ran all the way here."

"Oh, well, I'm just… not sure I like this neighborhood. No offense or anything."

"I won't lie - my family's not exactly _swimming_ in dough." Kiki rolled her eyes. "This was the best spot our savings could afford. But hey, so what if we're living next door to a family of cannibalistic Goths?"

Penny forced a nervous smile as she made her way through the door, gingerly setting her backpack down on the scrawny carpeted floor._ I sure hope she's still being sarcastic…_

The two girls made their way to the kitchen, on the other side of the house - it was about a five-second walk. Penny got an opportunity to observe the inside of the dwelling a little better; the wallpaper was dog-eared and she could've sworn she saw a cockroach scurrying under the raggedy couch in the living room.

"Sorry about the mess." Kiki explained, trying to be a good host (which was still a relatively new experience for her). "I… _We_ haven't gotten around to tidying this place up."

"Where are your parents?"

"Ooooh…" Kiki bit her lip, thinking for a moment. "Um… _away_. At… work. Your parents work, right?"

"Just my mom. I… live with just my mom. She runs an animal rejuvenation clinic. It's built into our house. It's kind of like living on a farm."

Kiki nodded. "That sounds cool. Of course, this place is like a farm, too. We get all kinds of rats and roaches and… Well, I don't mean to gross you out, or anything."

_How can she stand it!?!_ Penny stared around the house and its scraggly walls, in disbelief, as her host dug through the contents of the pantry. "You seem… very nonchalant about it." 

Kiki turned around, unsure why Penny seemed so disgusted. "Hey, if your mom's a vet, she probably keeps rats and roaches around anyway, to feed the larger animals, right? You should be used to them."

"She keeps them in a special fridge… I never see them."

"Oh, well, that's different." Kiki, after rummaging through the pantry, finally emerged with a half-eaten tray of… something. "Fruit pie?"

Penny grimaced. "Uh, no thanks."

"You can dig through the pantry yourself, if you want. I think we have some leftover sushi from a Chinese restaurant back in Texas… Must be months old by now, but the stuff keeps real well…" 

"I'm not hungry. Already ate."

"Suit 'cherself." Still holding the fruit pie (if that's what it was), Kiki made her way to the table, which was also run-down and dirty… Two of the legs had been replaced, one with a semi-thick log and the other, the handle of a broom. Even the chair looked antique. "So, Pen…"

"Yes?"

"You wanna grab a chair?" Kiki gestured towards an identical chair in the corner. It was nice having company around for a change… It'd been a long time since she'd had to bring out the extra seat. 

Grabbing the chair and hauling it to the table, Penny sat down and began to casually observe the house again. It looked like one of those old replicas of 18th-century dwellings, and though it'd be fascinating to take a few more looks around, she couldn't imagine having to live there… "So… what were you doing before I came?"

Kiki lowered a spoonful of 'fruit pie' from her lips. "Um… just… drawing."

"That's what Rudy says whenever I ask him. Do you draw comic books? That's what he does."

"Oh… Well, yes. I like comics." Kiki set down the spoon, resting her elbow on the table and tapping her forefinger to her chin. She'd forgotten about Rudy already. _Stay on topic, Kiki._  "Speaking of which, Penny, why don't you tell me more about him? He sounds…" She searched for a word. "Very… _interesting_." 

Penny's eyes widened a little. She glanced towards her company, a little nervously. "R-Rudy?"

"Yeah…?"

"Oh, well, uh… He's… an artist, like you are." Penny twiddled her thumbs together as she thought a little harder. "He's very nice…"

"What kind of stuff does he draw?" Kiki interrupted, a little impatient.

"He's more of a cartoonist. Doesn't like realism very much." 

"I figured so." Kiki smiled a little. "The three of us need to get together sometime. You can introduce me to him. I really need some more friends… And it sounds like me and him have a lot in common."

Penny bit her lip, wondering why she felt so uneasy all of a sudden… "Yeah, you do." 

--

"Alright, alright: That could've gone better. But we got front row seats, and you walked out that nightclub a hero! Way to go, buddy!"

Rudy stared down at the ground ahead of him. It took all of his self-control to keep from imploding upon himself right there. There were three bloodied scratches on his arm and four matching ones on his left cheek from where the deranged chicken had left its mark. He raised one hand to gingerly finger the red spots on his cheek; but only caused himself to wince in even more pain.

"Hey, out of all the things to go wrong, I'd say an insane chicken is relatively minor. Think of what _could've_ happened! Someone could've erased a giant dragon into ChalkZone, and it could've stepped on the Clam Bar, crushing us all! There could've been a swirling vortex of flame! Or-"

Rudy hung his head, sighing. "Snap, I just want to go home. Take me home right now." 

"All right, all right. Sheesh. Just trying to lighten the mood. Anyway, back at the restaurant, it's a good thing you came through with that chicken-restraint, and the muzzle. That's what Biclops did to tame the giant fire-breathing chicken from the incident with the red chalk. D'you get the idea from him?"

Rudy groaned, groggily. "Snaaaaap… Can we please just…?" 

"K'ay, bucko. Just cool it, okay? Your home chalkboard should be that way. I trust you know the spot by now."

"Yeah, I do." 

"Well, seeya, bucko!"

Snap turned around and headed off again, leaving Rudy to continue his path home. It would only take a few minutes, and then he could get back to reality, and for once, enjoy it. At least there wasn't much left to go wrong.

On the way to his home chalkboard, Rudy passed by many other chalk surfaces (you could tell by the words and symbols dangling in midair). Sometimes he paused to read them. Occasionally, they would say interesting things. Presently, out of boredom, Rudy stopped by a couple of them to read what they said. Most of them also had little drawings to accompany the words. It was fascinating seeing what other people were doing.

A couple in particular caught his eye.

"Here's one: The Funky McWunky fan club." Rudy mused to himself. "Wow. I think I've actually heard of them."

He passed by a couple more. Most of them read uninteresting things, or had primitive stick-people doodled on them. 

"Boring… boring… Hey, that one's pretty good!"

The only detailed one he saw was out of his way, and if he ran over to see it, it would only take him longer to get home and clean his battle wound. Then again, he still needed to think of an excuse for why he was sporting the scratches in the first place, and he could use a little more time to think of something. Besides, he was curious to see just how good the drawing was. 

He jogged a little closer to the doodling in the distance, and squinted a little to make out the details….

It was a pixie, identical to the one that had been chasing Snap!

"Aha. Let's see who our culprit is."

Rudy ran over to the stand in front of the chalk surface, withdrew White Lightning, and drew a very small circle beside the pixie. The portal glowed white for a moment, and then changed to reveal a very dusty room in the real world. He used one eye to squint through the hole, making sure no one was in the room. After a few seconds, and the coast was still clear, he drew a bigger circle around the little one, just large enough for him to squeeze into. He crawled through the hole and into the real world.

"This place is a wreck." He observed. "Whoever drew those pixies really needs to clean up in here…"

He took a closer look around the room, searching for some kind of clue that would help him to determine who exactly lived there. There were many pictures hanging on the wall that sported snakes, dragons, griffins and even a few of those accursed pixies. There were no personal photos though, so he still couldn't really tell.

Wait a minute… He stood dead-still. If he listened carefully, he could hear a voice coming from below him. There was somebody downstairs.

He couldn't really recognize the voice, though. He continued to listen.

…Then, there was a second voice. A girl's voice, like the first, but it spoke with a bit of a lisp and Rudy found it to be very familiar…

Rudy shook his head in disbelief. "Penny? No way! This can't be _her_ house…" 

Slowly, cautiously, Rudy made his way to the door and poked his head out into the hall. Placing his footsteps with care, he made his way to the stairs and glanced downwards. He saw the living room, the den, and the front door, all very small and run-down, like the room he had ended up in. Whoever lived there was either dirt-poor or they fancied the "old and musty" look.

He heard the voices again. There was no doubt about it; one of them was definitely Penny's. But who was the second? He recognized it from somewhere, but…

Curiosity was eating away at him. He delicately tiptoed down the stairs, trying not to make a sound. One of the stairs creaked, but the house was making ten creaks a second as it was, no matter if anyone was roaming about or not.

Finally, he reached a bend in the stairs, and was able to see the kitchen. Yup, it was Penny. And… Kiki, the new girl. Ah, he still had to thank her, but he imagined it would be best to save it for another time. He didn't want to try and explain why he was sneaking around her house.

…Was Kiki the one drawing the pixies? He'd ask Penny about it, once they were alone. For the present, he just had to worry about getting back up the stairs and through the portal without anyone noticing.

…Or he could stay a little, and listen to what the girls were talking about. Why not? Besides that it was, well, _eavesdropping_, but… he wasn't in danger of being caught as long as they stayed in the kitchen.

--

"…And _that_ is the secret to harnessing unstable elements. I'm submitting my theory to the Aspiring Youths' Science Academy next week. I could win a scholarship."

Penny had just finished a long, winding, and very educational lecture, and Kiki was listening just as intently as she had been from the start, not nodding off like Rudy would have been.

"Wow. That's all I can say. Just… wow." Kiki finished the last bite of fruit pie, a shocked expression on her face. "That's incredible. I didn't know you were such a genius."

"_I'm_ impressed that you actually understood what biochemical components were, without me having to explain it," Penny mused, smiling. "_Some people_ don't appreciate science. Rudy never lets me finish explaining something like that to him; all he wants to do is talk about his comics, or…" She paused to catch her breath. Just how much did she feel comfortable venting about?  "…Or something really stupid, like… how he thinks mayonnaise on a biscuit is hilarious."

Kiki rolled her eyes. "Oh, it's a guy thing. They're just like that."

Penny giggled. "So, it's not just me?"

"No, no… it's _them_. The inner workings of a guy's mind are not for us to question." Kiki took the empty pie tray and carried it to the sink (the cleanest place in the whole house, but that wasn't saying a lot). "In the meantime, we can go upstairs, and you can show me how well you can draw."

"Well, I'm… not very good…"

"Oh, feh. Come on."

The girls made their way to the stairs as Rudy furiously scrambled up to the top story, raced through the hallway, and dove through the portal again, erasing it behind him, leaving only a giant gray smear in its wake.

Big enough to be noticeable.

Kiki and Penny arrived at that room about ten seconds later, talking and laughing like old friends. Penny didn't understand why Kiki suddenly stopped laughing, staring at her chalkboard in disbelief. There was a decent-sized smudge through the middle of her pixie drawing, and no one had been in her room all day.

"That wasn't there before." She murmured. Subconsciously, she felt herself tense, her blood pressure rising. 

Penny shook her head. "You can just redraw it, right? Is it really that big of a problem?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, of course not."

--

A/N: Why do I make Rudy such an impolite person? o0;; Maybe it comes from his name… You know, rude, Rudy. It's a subconscious thing.__


	5. Carnival

Author's Note - This, my friends, is the LOST CHAPTER. Meaning, you could take it out, and it wouldn't effect the storyline very much. But I felt the story was speeding up too quickly, so I added this one in. It's a spacefiller!

--

Initiation

Part Four

--

It was the next afternoon, following the one where Rudy had nearly been discovered eavesdropping. Once again, he had gone into ChalkZone unaccompanied by Penny.

_"Some people don't appreciate science. Rudy never lets me finish explaining something like that to him; all he wants to do is talk about his comics, or…Or something really stupid, like… how he thinks mayonnaise on a biscuit is hilarious."_

At the time, the thought of mayonnaise on a biscuit _had_ been hilarious. He wondered why she was so rough about the subject. 

But that wasn't what was bothering him.

"Helloooo? Rudy?" Snap waved a hand in front of the boy's face, putting an abrupt end to the creator's thoughts. "Is something the matta'? You look a little off."

Rudy heaved a long sigh. It sounded surprisingly, well, _sad_, as Snap noted. _How can anyone be so down on a trip to the fair? _

"Sorry, Snap. It's just that-"

The uproarious bellow of a chalk-elephant, far off in the distance, instantly stole Snap's attention. "Oh, boy, oh boy, oh boy! We're in luck! They brought in the _big ones_ today!" 

Hardly caring, the boy asked, "The what?"

"The telephants, what else?!" Came the immediate response. "Hurry, hurry! We gotta go if we wanna be first in line!"

Another sigh found its way from Rudy's throat as he felt Snap grab his hand and proceed to drag him along. Not too far in the distance, the bold neon words read, in electrifying colors of orange and green:

**_ChalkZone City Carnival_**

(Or, the CCC, as Zoners sometimes called it)

They reached the main gates some ten or twenty seconds later. Snap was quick on his feet - apparently the 'telephants' were a star attraction, Rudy figured. But what exactly were they?

"The telephant: A telekinetic species of hefty mammal, native to the Great Pains outside the Mumbo Jumbo Jungle." Snap smirked, as if he had read his friend's thoughts.

Rudy snorted aloud; he couldn't help himself. At least Snap was helping to lighten his mood. "The _Great Pains_?"

"They call it that for a reason." Snap grinned. "To get there, you have to cross the Mumbo Jumbo Jungle, and after you've done that… well, I think the rest speaks for itself."

The two boys shared a brief round of much-needed laughter as they approached the ticket booth. ("Your tickets, please?" Droned the attendant.) Snap and his creator set down their admission fees and soon they were taking their first steps into the miniature amusement park.

Rudy tried not to let anything get in the way of their fun. Just because Penny had said some unfavorable things about him didn't mean he had to fret about it. It would be better not to think about her, and try to have a good time anyway.

--

A moan of reluctance emitted from one girl's throat; however it was quiet, and her accomplice didn't quite catch on.

Kiki tried not to let _too_ much of her incompetence show (nobody liked a whiner) as Penny Sanchez dragged her along. She hadn't imagined that Ms. Sanchez was quite the outdoorsy kind… definitely not the kind who spent time at amusement parks, or dragged other people along for that matter. Penny had more of a bookwormish aura… With the glasses, nice clothing and powerful mind, she seemed more like the kind of person who'd spend time indoors, working on chemistry projects and extra credit homework assignments. "Penny, what's going on? You didn't seem… the outgoing type."

Penny's thoughts flashed, briefly, to all the times she'd accompanied Rudy in ChalkZone. It was hard, not learning to love the action and adventure after all he had shared with her. "A friend showed me what fun was like."

The two of them trotted along, now at equal paces, as the makeshift sign, dangling in midair between two streetlamps, came into view: **_Plainville City Carnival. _**

"And Plainville _certainly _didn't seem like the kind of town to have these kinds of merry get-togethers, either." Kiki mused, as a sarcastic afterthought. "It always seemed like one of those more "blah" towns to me."

"This kind of thing only happens once in a while," Penny responded. "I've only lived here about a year… but like you thought, Plainville isn't a very interesting place. That's why a carnival is so out-of-the-ordinary."

"Then it probably isn't a very good one, eh?"

"It won't hurt to get out on a sunny afternoon like this one. All the days spent researching and essay-writing… I almost never have time for this. And I know you're busy with your comics…"

The duo, at last, trekked through the carnival's borderlines. Penny took a quick glance around, just to make sure the event was being monitored. She saw Officer O'Larry stationed at his patrol car some fifteen yards away; and Mr. Wilter collecting generous donations from the thirty or so people who had made it to the little fair that day.

Kiki's first instinct, however, was to search the park for something fun to do. She spotted a hit-and-dunk game somewhere under the shade; a hot dog stand by the villa…

--

"…And next to the hot dog stand, there's the telephant's corral. Do you wanna try that, bucko? Huh? huh?!"

Rudy still looked baffled. He took another look around the park, scanning the massive crowd (of a thousand Zoners of more), realizing that a very good portion them were stationed around the area Snap's gloved finger pointed to.

"Ok… so the telephants are telekinetic elephants. I can remember that - but what exactly do they _do_, here?"

Snap shook his head, chuckling. "Isn't it obvious?"

"…Not to me."

"Well, the telephants' powers make them the base of an ultimate thrill ride. They just focus their mental energy on you and WHAM! You're sent hovering in midair. The ones here are trained to give you a good ride, though, and set you back down on the ground safely afterwards…"

Rudy grimaced a little. "I dunno. Still seems unsafe." It sounded like the kind of reasoning Penny would give, and since she couldn't be there in person, he figured he might as well fill in for the genius of their posse. 

"Nonsense! You don't know what you're saying! The telephants, dangerous! That's ridiculous! Now I'm getting in line. Are you coming?"

_What choice do I have?_ "Well… okay. I suppose it can't cause much harm."

Snap was to thank Rudy's decision. As the two approached, the line began to steadily decrease right before their very eyes. Zoners were taking backwards steps, clearing the way to make room for their great Creator.

_"Oh, right this way, Rudy!" "It's the creator! …Move over, Billy, we have to let him through." "Everyone, everyone, move! It's him!"_

Rudy tried to explain that he didn't mind waiting his turn, but naturally Snap had already smoothed things over with the crowd. "Ah, pardon me, buddy, Creator and sidekick comin' through!"

"Snap! We shouldn't cut. It isn't fair."

"Move it, move it, don't keep the creator waitin'! …Eh, you say somethin', Rudy?"

The boy heaved an exasperated sigh; reasoning with Snap was hopeless sometimes. "Never mind."

_If Penny were here, Snap would already be receiving a lecture on etiquette. _

--

"…I don't know what you're talking about. We can't cut! It isn't proper etiquette, and reflects poorly on our character!"

Kiki eyed the ever-growing ice cream line warily. "Okay, repeat that entire thing - only leave out the big words."

Penny made sure to speak slowly this time, as if she were addressing an unruly toddler. "It _isn't polite_."

 "Penny, in case you haven't noticed, this entire event is monitored by our inattentive teacher, a hefty policeman preoccupied with the donut shop, and a bunch of zit-faced teenagers on volunteer duty. The reasoning you gave is good - for someone who's being _supervised_. Come on, Pen'… Walk on the wild side, for once in your life."

"I never should've dragged you out here. Nobody can have any fun when they're being accompanied by- by a tramp!"

Kiki's eyes flared a little; but surprisingly, she didn't anger. An amused smirk played on her lips, where Penny had suspected a grumpy frown to be. "Oh, a tramp, eh? How do you think I like being seen in public with a nerdy little bookworm?"

Penny gasped.

"Better still - a bookworm who actually abides by the rules!" Kiki nodded towards the line for ice cream. "Anyway, I guess it's too late to try the whole 'cutting' maneuver… Reggie pulled it first."

The genius girl's eyes dashed to the head of the line. Sure enough, there was young Reginold Bullnerd, enforcing his dominant size and weight to shove the smaller kids aside. The ice cream stand's operator, one of the volunteering teenagers, didn't do anything about it.

"_Humph_ - can you believe that?!" Penny growled. "Why can't Reggie accept that he's the same as everybody else?"

Kiki rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it,"

"Someone needs to put him in his place… end his cruel egotism once and for all." Penny watched, with bitter distaste, as Reggie marched away from the stand with ice cream that piled a full foot above his head. She seemed to have forgotten that Kiki had been considering doing the same thing only a minute ago. "If there's one person I can't stand, besides Sna-" She stopped herself just in time, "…Err, I mean… If there's one person I can't stand, it's Reggie. All he ever does is push people around. He's caused Rudy and I a lot of problems, too."

"Yeah, I noticed." Kiki thought back to that afternoon at school, when she had saved Rudy from almost certain doom.

"…It's almost like he goes out of his way to make trouble for _us_…"

The blonde raised a brow. The smirk on her face continued to expand. "So you two are like… his favorites?"  

"_Least_ favorites is the more correct way of putting it… but, yes." Penny's eyes remained glued to the gluttonous Reggie, who was beginning to gorge on his first scoop. "If only we could teach him a lesson."

Kiki huffed in the boy's direction. Anyone could see why Penny despised him so. But regardless of his obnoxiousness, Kiki had no motive to set him straight until her mind slowly made the connection…

_Penny hates the same boy who I just thrashed the other day…_

_Wouldn't it make her happy if I did it a second time?_

"Hey, I'm game. Enforcing justice is one of my favorite pastimes." She cracked her knuckles together with a crafty grin. "Want me to give him that lesson?"

"…Kiki, wait! You can't hold a candle to Reggie! It's scientifically impossible! A person of your height and weight could never overcome anyone of Reggie's body mass!"

The blonde continued to smirk (that smirk seemed to represent the former of her two sole emotions: Amusement and total boredom) "You didn't see all of what happened at school, did you?"

"You mean, that day where Rudy was almost beaten upon? I stopped watching after Rudy escaped. I figured you did, too… What? Is that not what happened?"

"…Well… let's just say… Reggie Bullnerd has reason to fear Kiki Callisto."

--

The telephants turned out to be quite a revolution in the joyride industry. 

Snap chuckled in bewilderment. The telekinetic blue glow surrounded his body, as the telephant raised its trunk and sent him hovering skyward. 

"Admit it, Rudy! This is a blast! Aren't we lucky they let us cut?"

Even through his guilt, Rudy had to agree with him; he closed his eyes in elation as he felt himself being whisked into the air, with nothing to support him except a surge of psychic energy from a trained circus animal.  He knew that, if Penny had been there, she would be too busy denouncing the logic of the attraction to enjoy it at all.  _It's probably a good thing that she isn't here to lecture. Now, why can't I get her off the brain?!  _

Those thoughts put a cramp on his good mood, and before he knew it, the ride was coming to a close. The telephant, having sensed that the five-minute time limit was up, slowly lowered its telepathically connected passenger to the ground.

Likewise happened for Snap; who, unlike Rudy, was in giggle fits from the sheer rushes of excitement that came from the telekinetic ride. The blue boy stumbled away from the silent gray elephants, staggering through his dizziness and sense of inner vertigo. "…Hahaha… haha… Okay, Rudy. Spill 'de beans! You had fun."

"That was… a fun ride." It would've been more enjoyable had he not spent the entire five-minute lapse worrying about Penny.

"Yeah, well… It's over now. Wanna catch some snacks? …Oh, I forgot, you humans can't eat chalk food… Ah well, more for me I suppose."

But Rudy was preoccupied with his thoughts. Thoughts of Penny, and whether or not she was doubting their friendship. It concerned him. He thought about telling Snap; but it didn't take him long to veto that idea. Sharing personal things with Snap meant that soon the whole of ChalkZone would know.

Instead, he tried to focus on another prospect that presently puzzled him.

"Snap? Where do the telephants get their powers?" It was more of a way to distract himself, than a question out of curiosity.

"They were created with them. Whoever drew them wanted to create psychic elephants. _Wallisimo _- Telephants are born. Well, materialized, actually, but… you get the idea."

Rudy pondered over what Snap had just said. Creators creating psychic Zoners… It was an interesting idea; it dragged him away from his more Penny-oriented thoughts.

"But… say, what if… the _wrong kid_ erased someone evil and all-powerful into ChalkZone, who was created powers like those? Anyone with those abilities could pose a serious threat."

"Sure hasn't happened yet. You underestimate kids nowadays, Rudy. Most of them create good things. Happy, harmless things, like stick figures, or picnic baskets, or fish." 

"There's a first time for everything. I'm just wondering… is there anyway to avoid the effects of telekinesis?" Rudy pressed on… though in reality, he was even beginning to confuse _himself._

"Take it from someone who knows - in other words, someone who _isn't me_. I'm no psychic." It took all of Snap's willpower not to strike a pose. "A wrestling commentator, tour guide, and master defective, maybe, but psychic powers are among the few things I don't have! Don't worry about it, okay bucko? You worry more than you should. I do know that much."

Rudy huffed a little; he thought his fear had been totally justified. But it still wouldn't hurt to take Snap's advice and stop worrying, because worrywarts never had any fun. "Never mind. Come on, let's head to the snack stand. I'll buy."

--

"Hello, _Penny Sanchez_. Enjoying the fair?" Reggie asked, as best as he could with a mouth full of strawberry ripple.

The genius girl gritted her teeth. "Oh, everything's hunky-dory. Now, I trust you've met my friend…?"

"Tabootie?" 

"It's Callisto, actually."

This time, Reggie paled. Although his memory was poor, he'd still managed to make the connection. He knew Callisto was the name attached to the girl who had given he, Plainville's self-proclaimed biggest bully and giver of bruises, a taste of his own medicine. Luckily, it had been among a very small audience… No one would have to know that a girl had whumped him up so good.

Even so, Reggie made _an attempt_ to maintain his composure. One thing he HAD learned from prior experiences was to never show fear… unless you were in pain. Then it was okay. "Yeah, I know her."

He surveyed the area around Penny, until his gaze hitched on a head of golden-blonde. 

It was _that girl_.

"W-What do you want?!" He stammered at last, fearing for another bruise.

"…Nothing." Kiki replied, innocently, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Say, Reggie, that ice cream looks delicious. Did you buy it from that stand over there?"

"Ehhh… Yes."

"The one with the _huge line?_"

Reggie seemed to have been lured into a false sense of security.  His eyelids dropped a little, as his mouth pulled back into an agitated sneer. "…Eh-huh." He turned to continue on his way.

Kiki trailed after him, a spring in her footsteps. "Wait a minute, Reg'! Can I try some of those sprinkles on the top? I don't wanna wait in line."

"…No way!" 

"Just the sprinkles? That's all."

Reggie shielded his ice cream from unworthy eyes. "You'll have to wait in line, like everyone else!"

"Everyone else _except you_. You cut." Kiki prodded him on the shoulder with her index finger. "Just four sprinkles?"

"Get your own!"

_How about we trade - your sprinkles for a knuckle sandwich? _Kiki pressed on. "But those sprinkles look _much_ better than the chocolate ones I always carry around. Can't I try some?" 

"Hmmm… Chocolate?"

"That's right! You wanna swap?"

Reggie looked cautious; but only for a moment. "D'oh, alright… It's a deal."

Kiki reached into her back pocket and, living up to her word, procured from it a small jar with flaky brown contents. She opened the lid, sprinkled (about half the jar) onto the top of Reggie's ice cream, and then carefully picked his original colored sprinkles off the top before popping them in her mouth.

Wordlessly, Reggie lifted the ice cream, with its new chocolate jimmies, up to his lips. He continued eating as before, taking a few bites at a time until sauntering away, satisfied.

At first, Penny was confused. But being the genius she was, it didn't take her long to figure it out.

Kiki moved her thumb, revealing the jar's full label - chocolate _laxatives_.

"You're brilliant!" The Hispanic giggled, as a far-away Reggie Bullnerd, whimpering and moaning in discomfort, dashed for the restrooms.

Both mini-conventions turned out to be wonderful. Both girls and Snap had a great time. Rudy not included because he spent most of the afternoon worrying about Penny, and Kiki, and if his friendship with the former could hold out… and if he could end his suspicions about the latter.

It was all he could think about that Wednesday night.


	6. The Inscriptions

Author's Note - Welcome back to TCL's little corner of random blaaah. Let me just say that anyone who posts R/P has my permission to rule the universe. *uses amazing hypno-telekenetic powers* You will write R/P… You will write R/P… You will write R/P… (And SoL, you WILL re-write the R/P fanfic. 'LORA COMMANDS IT SO!!!) 

I added some extra stuff to the ends of Parts One (not the prologue!) and Three (the chapter before this one.) The extra stuff is important. Yesh. And once again, thank you to those who have reviewed. One final note: I have a picture of Kiki up on DA, so I've provided the link in my profile in case you wanna know what she looks like. So, behold, marvel in her OC-ish glory, and now, having nothing else to say, I'm just gonna shut up and continue writing the fic. Amen.

--

Initiation

Part Four

--

Thursday morning cast a heavy, gloomy shadow over Plainville. Rudy heaved himself out of bed upon awakening; he felt very jumpy, for some reason, and he wasn't sure why. In any case, he had to get up early; he felt motivated to check up on ChalkZone after the chicken and pixie incident of the previous day. Hopefully, nothing too dangerous had been erased since then. Still a little tired, he sauntered to the chalkboard, opened up a portal and crawled through, not caring that he was still in his PJ's.

ChalkZone that morning seemed the same as it always did; bustling with activity and the sounds of the outdoors. A flock of migrating pencils passed by overhead, pursuing a runaway buttonfly. The quaint little candy cane forest was visible in the distance, home to entire patches of two-lips, taffy-dils, and all kinds of bizarre native flowers. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary; for ChalkZone, at least.

"Looks like I didn't miss much." He yawned. "Maybe I could sleep a few more minutes before heading to school…"

"Hold that thought, bucko!"

Rudy sighed, exasperated, as he watched his blue companion head downhill towards him. "Snap. Is something wrong?" 

"You bet there's something wrong! Get down to ChalkZone City right away! And bring Penny, won't you? We're gonna need all the help we can get."

Woah. There was a new one. "_You_ actually _want_ me to bring Penny…" Rudy repeated in disbelief.

"Yes, yes! Hurry!" 

Gathering his thoughts, Rudy started to head back to the portal- then stopped, because he figured it would be faster just to get into Penny's house through her home chalkboard. He knew where it was ended up - It was somewhere in the dump, and probably had some kind of equation written on it. The dump was a thirty-minute walk away (and he was far too tired to run), so to speed up the process a little he doodled up the first thing he could think of - a rocket-powered scooter- and took off in a blaze.

He couldn't stop thinking about what he had heard the girls talking about the day before. Was Penny really fed up at his inability to listen? Were her scientific discoveries really that important to her? …Oh well, there would be other times to patch up their friendship. First things first. It sounded like there was saving to do in ChalkZone at the present.

With the aid of the scooter's rocket boosters, he reached the dump in five minutes flat. It seemed to go by in seconds, though; his thoughts were still at work. Forcing himself to concentrate, he gazed around the area searching for some kind of representation, some kind of distinction that would tell him where Penny's chalkboard was…

"Aha. There it is." A pi sign, a few random letters and variables, and many more symbols that he had yet to recognize. They were just hovering in midair. He ran over and opened the full-sized portal without caution- it was Penny's room, who else would be in there? He hopped through without hesitance.

"Rudy?! What are you doing here?!" It was Penny, all right, clad in her regular green turtleneck and skirt, sitting at a desk with a couple of bubbling beakers. "Why- Do you have any idea how early-"

"Come on! Snap said it was urgent."

"But… I can't go now!" She protested, taking a nervous glance around.

"School can wait! We may be talking about lives at stake!"

"Rudy, I _can't_."

The boy groaned, staring at the test tubes with contempt. "Is this about your experiment?"

"No, it's-"

She paused in mid-sentence. The sound of footsteps could be heard, growing ever louder with each passing second.

"Quick! Cover the portal! Do something!" She urged him. "Hurry!"

The doorknob began to turn. Knowing there was no time to crawl back through the hole, Rudy erased it instead with one furious swipe of his sleeve. The glistening white circle was wiped away almost entirely, leaving only a smear. And just in time. The door was heaved open, and in walked… Kiki? … Who blinked, and stared at Rudy for a moment through wide eyes.

"Woah." An amused smile played on Kiki's face, probably the first trace of one she'd acquired as of yet.  "Nice fashion statement."

Confused, Rudy glanced down at himself- then blushed lightly as he realized that he'd forgotten to change out of his PJ's. Both girls giggled at Kiki's comment, making the situation seem even more humiliating. But it could've been worse- what if it had been Mrs. Sanchez at the door instead? Hoi- he didn't want to think about that. Penny's mom never had really liked him that much. 

The smile on Kiki's face had converted back into her normal cynical smirk, but her eyebrows were now arched in suspicion. "Okay, _now_ I'll ask - why is he here?"

"Um… I… uh…" He was hoping she wouldn't ask. "I left… my… really important… thing… here, last time I came over."

"Still, you could've had the decency to change out of your nightclothes first." Kiki took a seat at Penny's desk and started to assist her with the beakers. "What exactly is this really important-"

"Rudy!" Penny interrupted, cutting her friend off. "You left your… uh… Your _really important thing_… in the attic." She gave him a discreet wink. "It's a mess up there, though. Want me to help you look for it?"

Rudy nodded, vigorously.

"Okay. You'll have to stay and monitor the experiment, Kiki. Rudy and I will be back in a moment."

The two of them raced out of Penny's room and down the hall, leaving the blonde girl behind them. Still trying to make as little noise as possible, Rudy followed his genius friend through the weaving hallways upstairs until they reached the attic door. 

"In here." She grabbed his hand and dragged him inside, and shut the door behind them. He instantly started to cough from the sheer amount of dust in the small room, and began to fan the air around him to get it away from his face.

"Yeah, it's a little dusty up here." She commented dismissively. "Anyway… What exactly _is_ this big crisis?"

"I don't know. But it's very urgent. Penny, we have to go now! Don't you have another chalkboard…?"

"Just the one in my room."

"Oh, great." Rudy turned to face the attic door, and poked his head through the crack a little to make sure they weren't being watched. "Why is Kiki over here so early, anyway?"

"Not that it would be any interest of yours, but…" Penny adjusted her glasses indignantly. Rudy winced as he suddenly recalled Penny and Kiki's conversation from the previous day. Did Penny really believe he never listened to her? "…She's helping me out with my science project."

"Ergh- another one? …We don't have one due this week, do we?"

"It's not for school, Rudy. It's…" She shook her head quickly. "Oh, never mind! We're getting off track! We need to do something about ChalkZone… but what?"

"Our only hope is to get Kiki out of your room." Rudy's thoughts started to race again. "We could set off a fire alarm, or you could just send her home, or… We'll think of something!" He heaved the door open. "There's no time to waste. Come on!"

But Penny hesitated. She planted her feet in the ground, unready to move. "Wait a minute! I have an idea."

"Great. What is it?"

"Why not just explain the situation to her?"

The boy sighed. "That would mean exposing ChalkZone… remember? We can't exactly leave out the most important detail." 

"Have you seen Kiki's art? She may be trustworthy of the secret. We can depend on her. She won't tell anyone,"

"What?!" Rudy shook his head firmly. "Penny - you met her yesterday. You hardly know her. We can't just share the biggest secret of our lives with someone we've known _one_ day!"

"We may have no other option. The clock is ticking. Please, Rudy, you're going to have to trust me on this one."

"It's too risky. Listen, just send her home, okay? You guys can make up later."

She stared at him, bitterly, but admitted her defeat. "Alright. I suppose… It's reasonable enough."

"Let's go!"

--

Kiki had known, as soon as the two walked back in the doorway, that she would be asked to go home. She had a talent for reading faces.

"Took you long enough." She commented, irritated. "What's the matter? Couldn't find the _important thing_? Or did you stop to make out?" She savored their shocked expressions as the last sentence was uttered. 

"Kiki!" Penny exclaimed in surprise, blushing intensely.

"Oh, please. Can't take a joke?" The blonde girl absent-mindedly fiddled with two of the test tubes as she waited for them to continue. "Ah, forget it. Now, would you mind telling me what's going on?"

"Yes, um, uh… You have to go home now…" Penny wished she could've said it better, but Rudy was silently pressing her on with his frantic eyes and gestures. "Your… mom called." 

"Did she?"

Penny felt herself sweat. Lying was definitely not her forte. "…Eh… Y-Yes."

"'Kay, then. Guess I'll see you both in school soon." Kiki rose from her seat, gathering her backpack in her arms, and headed towards the doorway. "Have fun while I'm gone, you two."

"We will! _Bye!_" Penny waved furiously as Kiki strode out into the hall, taking her sweet time. Rudy rushed out and closed the door behind her before racing to the chalkboard once again. He busted out White Lightning in a flash, and was already starting to open up the portal. 

"I wonder what the big crisis is." Penny wondered aloud as she hurriedly crawled her way through. "It had better be something important."

"It has to be. Snap wouldn't get us worked up about nothing." 

"I'm not entirely sure about _that_." She sighed, skeptically, as he followed suit. "It's not like he hasn't done it before."

Ignoring the last comment, Rudy seized her palm and dragged her aboard the rocket-powered scooter with him. Without a moment's hesitance, he turned the handle and off they went. Penny hurriedly clamped her arms around his waist to keep from falling off. 

ChalkZone City closely bordered the dump, so the ride lasted about a minute (and most of that time was spent navigating around the heaps of erased words and numbers). Push, the trash-talking disposal, waved to them as they continued on, but in their panic they were oblivious.

"Cleanies no sweep to Push's wavey!" He blathered, in his nonsensical mix of trash and English, as they passed by. "Rude, they are!"

Back to the kids.

"So, Rudy, should we find Snap?" Penny asked, having finally overcome her fear of riding the precariously speedy scooter.

"Nah… I think if there's really something wrong with the City, we'll be able to tell what it is without having to ask him." He squinted at the buildings, down the hill below them. "There it is, dead ahead!"

"It doesn't look to be in ruins, at least. Do you _see_ anything wrong with it?"

"Well, not yet. But keep looking!" 

The two of them stared at the city ahead of them, looking for anything out of the ordinary. ChalkZone City looked the same as it did every day; full of color and strange buildings and all kinds of curious inhabitants. It was drawing ever nearer with each passing second, and still nothing seemed in disarray.

Penny bit her lip. "Maybe we _should_ find Snap… I mean, if we can't tell what's wrong, then-"

She stopped abruptly, in mid-sentence, for her eyes were locked on the spot where the Globe Theatre used to be. It was the same place the three of them had seen Rapunzel about five or six months back. The thing was, there wasn't anything there. Just a smoldering pile of ash. 

"Oh… my, uh… Rudy…"

Her counterpart sounded equally glum. "Yes, I see it."

An entire crowd was gathered around the burnt mess, all buzzing with chatter. Rudy and Penny skidded to a halt and hopped off the scooter, heading towards the disoriented masses to get a better understanding of what was going on.

"What happened here?" The masculine of the pair asked of the group.

Every head in the crowd turned to stare at him through angry eyes. A couple of spiteful shouts rose from the crowd. The two children took quick glances at one another, startled.

"…Did we do something wrong?" He asked, innocently.

"We can understand why you're all upset…" Penny piped up, trying to ease the crowd. "Look, we would've been here earlier, but…"

A familiar head suddenly popped out of the crowd, cutting the girl off. It was Snap, and he seemed just as fierce and fuming as the rest of them. The little blue boy made his way towards the two baffled humans, panting. 

"Not an exactly an _early boid_ today, are you, bucko!?" He demanded, furiously. "While you and Penny were having a field day in the real world, there was an assault made on the Globe Theatre! Or should I say, the _late_ Globe Theatre. Don't you know this is where Rapsheeba has always preformed?" He shook his head in anger, grunting with contempt. "Ugh… Not much of a help you were."

Rudy felt himself growing a little savage under all the pressure. "Look, I'm really sorry, Snap, but it wasn't our fault. At least no one was hurt. I can just re-draw the theatre. It's  not that much of a problem." He raised a brow. "Who attacked it, anyway? Wasn't a swarm of those vicious pixies, was it? There seem to be more of them around…" he didn't tell Snap that he actually knew the pixies' source.

"Yeah, you could redraw it, but it's only authentic once. It'll _nevah_ quite be the same!" 

"Answer our question, okay?!" Penny hissed. It didn't take long for her to grow angry at Snap.

"Look, all I know is, the one who attacked this theatre was some kind of… walking… lizard-thing. It was white with red bands around its joints. Sound familiar?! Because strangely enough, after it was through destroying the Globe Theatre, it wrote a very suspicious message in the ground using invisible lasers from its eyes. It's over there if you want to see it."

The human duo's eyes traveled to a cut-up portion of the ground. There was, indeed, something written into the soil, so they walked over to observe it.

Penny took the liberty of reading the message aloud. "_'Should you ask who brought my wrath upon you, know that it was your one true creator, your future lord and master_.' " She snorted. " Are you all thinking that Rudy drew that beast? This doesn't prove anything! And anyway, he would never draw something so… destructive… right?"

"Of course not!" Rudy seemed disgusted with the thought. "I didn't draw that thing - walking lizard? White with red bands? I scarcely ever draw lizards as it is, and never with chalk."

Snap suddenly grimaced. "To be honest… I was kinda hoping you _had_ drawn it, buddy. Because… Does this mean there's another creator around?" 

Penny mirrored his expression, staring down at the ground fearfully. "I imagine it isn't out of the question."

--

A/N: There was something else I wanted to ramble about, but I don't quite remember what it was, so I'll save it for next time, in the event it comes back to me. 'Til then… adios!


	7. So, We Friends or Not?

Author's Note - I'm on Danny Phantom and Kim Possible highs right now, but I figured I should probably continue this anyway. So, uh, yay to my reviewers… Mainly, SoL, who reviews almost every chapter. You're every author's dream. Hehe. As for the R/P fic… You WILL rewrite and post it! Lora STILL commands it so. (No preferences, BTW. Just make it floofeh~)

--

Initiation

Part Five

--

It was put rather bluntly. "I don't trust her."

"Wha-? Trust who?"

The news of the destructive chalk-lizard had certainly put a huge cramp on the beginning of the duo's day. An aura of negative energy seemed to emanate from them (or the male of the pair, at least) as they headed towards class.

"You know who I'm talking about. Your new _best friend_?"

His counterpart sighed. "Rudy, you're still my _best_ friend. Kiki's my closest… normal, girl friend. There's a difference."

The exchange ended on that note, for the two were nearing homeroom's door. Mr. Wilter was leaning in the doorway, and gave the pair a suspicious look before they headed inside.

Rudy's eyes immediately traveled to the desk in the middle, where the blonde-haired Kiki sat. She was turned around in her seat to face him, and in the moment their gazes locked, Rudy had just enough time to catch the instantaneous look of contempt that crossed her face.

His suspicions were practically confirmed.

But the poisonous look she had given him lasted only a second. She visibly brightened upon seeing Penny, for that rare smile flashed again. Rudy felt himself grumble as _his_ best friend made her way to Kiki's desk, leaving him in the dust.

"Class starts in less'n thirty seconds. I thought you wouldn't show. What were you and Rudy doing that required me to leave?"

_Great - I guess she looked into the whole 'mom' excuse Rudy and I pulled on her. _"Kiki, I am _so_ sorry! See, Rudy and I had to… finish a very important extra credit paper that the two of us started on. It was due today. I shouldn't have lied to you." The instant it was said, a voice in the back of her head began to nag her. _Then why am I doing it again?_

"Hey, it's… not a problem," The expression on the girl's face was beyond recognition; it looked to be somewhat of a bizarre mix between devilishly crafty and tragically hurt. "We don't have to talk about it."  She took out her binder and laid it atop her desk, keeping a protective arm draped around it. "So, any… interesting news lately?"

"Not since this morning." Trying to be subtle, Penny took a very cautious glance towards Rudy, who was giving the blonde girl shifty, suspicious looks every time he glanced up from his drawing. Penny immediately decided it'd be best if Kiki didn't know.  

"So, Kiki… uh… tell me about your…" The Hispanic desperately tried to think of something to say. "…Your comics. You never told me much about them, and…"

But Kiki was looking past her, raising a brow at the boy behind them. "Why's Rudy glaring at us?"

Penny waved both hands in front of her in a defensive gesture, as if miming an invisible wall. "Uh… he's not glaring at us. He's…"

Kiki sighed. "No, you're right. He's glaring at _me_." 

Rudy was well aware that he had been caught, but he continued the evil eye nonetheless. It had only taken him a day and a half to decide one thing for sure: He didn't like her. At all.

Penny searched for another distraction. "So, uh, about your comics…"

"Right." The blonde girl decided to tune Rudy out, and humor her genius friend instead. She didn't want to appear too fascinated with the whole glaring thing. Casually, she reached into her binder and took out a few loose pieces of printer paper. The designs on them were sketchy but distinctive and exquisitely drawn. "The comic. It's a plot I've been working on since my eighth birthday." 

"Oh? What's it about?"

"It's the story of my character, Blasphemy. He's the main character, but not the good guy. In broad daylight, he stalks the city, where he selects a few victims and consumes their energy… Don't worry, it's a lot more violent than it sounds."

Penny stared back at the girl through widened eyes. "Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

"I'm kidding! Sheesh." Kiki used one forefinger to point to a particular panel. Depicted in it, Blasphemy (who, so far, had appeared as nothing more than a five-foot shadowy figure) was holding an unfortunate civilian down under his claws. Both captor and captive were surrounded in a ghostly aura, which, as Kiki was sure to explain, represented the concentration of psychic energy. "He's telekinetic. He can read minds, and do amazing things just by thinking."

"Fascinating." Penny glanced back at Rudy for a moment, hoping he had stopped glaring and returned to his work. But he was still staring menacingly in their direction, his eyebrows slanted downwards over his squinted green eyes. It was rare to see him mad at all, let alone how upset he appeared at the moment. 

The genius girl grimaced. "'Scuse me for a moment."

Leaving Kiki by her lonesome, Penny marched over to Rudy's desk. He said nothing to acknowledge her presence, but only kept sending heated glares in the blonde's direction.

"Rudy!?" His friend poked him on the arm. "Come on, stop that!"

"Stop what?" He asked immediately, without giving his response a thought.

"You _know_ what you're doing. Cut it out!" 

He huffed in irritation. "I just wanna give her the idea that not everyone appreciates what she does."

"Oh, Rudy…" She groaned, exasperated, and took a seat beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I understand what you're thinking - her drawings do seem to resemble the evil beings in ChalkZone. But Kiki would never do anything to hurt us intentionally. If we just tell her about ChalkZone, I'm certain she'd keep the secret. And as such, she'd never erase anything so harmful again. She's our friend."

Rudy's gaze only hardened again. He slung her arm off his shoulder again, making her gasp. "Actually, she's _your _friend. And we're NOT telling her about ChalkZone. If you want the truth, I think we'd just be telling her something she already knew."

Penny shook her head in disbelief. "That's crazy!" She seethed, unable to believe his stubbornness. What right did he have to make such reckless assumptions? The anger spread over her like a storm. "Why can't you just trust me on this one?!"

Suddenly, the room fell silent. Penny hadn't realized she'd elevated her voice so much. Her cheeks flushed lightly as she noticed all eyes on her.

But after a few seconds, the room was buzzing with chatter again. After the girl's outburst, Rudy looked a little hurt. He scooted a little closer to her, just to make sure she knew that he wasn't angry.

"I do trust you, Penny." He looked to make sure no one was listening in. "I trust you more than anyone else I know. Yes, Snap included." She giggled a little at this comment. "…The thing is… I just don't trust _her_." He jabbed a finger at Kiki, who was tapping her foot impatiently while she awaited Penny's return.

"Oh, please. If I can learn to get along with Snap, _you_ can certainly get used to Kiki. Can't you give her a chance?" Penny planted her hands on her hips, bent on staying put until she changed his opinion. "You said you trusted me. Well, then, you can trust me when I say that nothing bad will come out of this. ChalkZone could use another guardian." 

"Whether or not she'll do good is what I'm concerned about."

_Great - back to square one._ She lightly whapped him on the head with the palm of her hand. "You're hopeless."

"Come on, Penny. I'm being _careful_."

"And careful is reasonable, to a certain extent. But once in a while you have to go with your intuition. If given White Lightning, Kiki would do nothing to harm us. I know it."

"That's not what _my_ intuition is telling me."

"Ugh - Rudy!"

Penny shook her head with a sigh. "OK, I won't tell her. But I still think she's trustworthy. You have to promise me that we give her a try if nothing goes wrong for a week or two."

He grunted his disapproval. "I can't promise that-"

"_Please?_" 

The boy flinched, trying not to cave in as his friend pulled the irresistible puppy pout. He tried not to look - _Come on, don't look_ - but in the end, all efforts were futile. She had struck his weakness.

His final decision was hesitant, but he knew had no other option. "Oh… Fine."

She smiled in satisfaction. "I _knew_ you'd see things my way." 

As Penny headed back over to Kiki, Rudy felt himself start to quiver in disbelief. What had he just agreed to? 

Then again, maybe she was right. Maybe his overcautious behavior was unnecessary, and maybe the golden-haired girl was worth trusting.

But he seriously doubted it.

--

The rest of school was a blur to the three of them. At lunch, Penny and Kiki sat side-by-side, while Rudy cast jealous looks in their direction. During recess, while the two girls played a friendly round of hopscotch, the third wheel watched them from afar, too absorbed in their affairs for a trip to ChalkZone to interest him. For the remainder of the school day, Penny enjoyed the company of her new friend, but only to a certain extent, because she knew _he_ was always watching them. She also knew he refused to stray anywhere near Kiki, so a group setup was impossible.

Before they knew it, the two of them (meaning, everyone in previous paragraph minus Rudy) were walking home on that Thursday afternoon. They were tired under the glaze of the setting sun, and decided to stop and rest on a public street-side bench. Kiki pulled out her binder and began to discretely dig through its contents, careful to make sure Penny couldn't see it, before taking out a clean sheet of paper and a pencil.

"Why can't I see your drawings?"

"I'm just nervous about people looking at my work. Privacy. Don't tell me you never get that from Rudy."

"Well…" Penny's thoughts flashed to their daily adventures in ChalkZone, where Rudy was never shy about himself or his art. _That's a definite no_. "Yeah. But I didn't know it was the same for all artists."

"Same deal."

"Ok."

Rocking back and forth awkwardly, Penny pulled both her legs to arch in front of her, resting her elbows on her knees. The bench wasn't particularly comfortable, but it was a welcome change on the long walk home. "Rudy's mom usually drives me home. Now I realize it's a very long way to walk. At least it's a nice day, right?"

Kiki raised a brow, but commented not on the weather. "It seems like Rudy comes up a lot in our conversations. While he's still on our minds, can I take the op to ask you why he seems to hate me so much?"

"He doesn't hate you, not at all! I don't know what you're talking about." Penny bit her lip. "Why would you think that?"

But Penny's innocence had taken an inverse toll. Kiki looked… disgusted. Absolutely repulsed.  "OK, Penny… I like being your friend. But I don't think you feel comfortable around me. You're keeping secrets. A lot of them."

"Well… I…" The Hispanic looked alarmed, panicked. "Well, you know, we all must have our secrets, you know -"

"I understand that one, believe me. But… it seems to me like you're always lying to me. I won't be subtle. I don't like it." Kiki set down her drawing to look her friend in the eyes. "Is there something here I absolutely cannot ever know? In that case, I guess I would understand…"

The reply was little more than a whisper. "…Yes."

And no more was said. Kiki returned to her drawings, and, as Penny noted, her facial expression had remained indifferent throughout the entire exchange. Was she really concerned, and just good at hiding it? The Hispanic shot her a questioning gaze, a silent plea for forgiveness. The look was returned, accompanied by a simple nod of the head. Kiki wasn't angry. Probably still a little irked, though.

Penny turned to leave. "We're still friends?"

"Yeah - just the kind that keeps secrets from each other."

The young genius couldn't tell whether or not Kiki was being sarcastic. In any case, she felt terrible about it. 

Because of Rudy, she had to keep secrets from Kiki. And because of Kiki, Rudy wouldn't hang around like he used to. It seemed like a lose-lose situation. Like a tangled friendship web with no apparent solution. Who was she supposed to side with? She obviously couldn't keep up with both of them.

--

A/N: OMG… I get to write R/P in later chapters! Which are coming up SOON! *does freakish victory dance* 


	8. Our Regrets

Author's Note - Looking over this fanfic again, I realize, with horror, that Kiki is actually a very BLAND, BORING character. What's further, I also realize I have created her to be a personality-clone of yours truly. Self-insertion!? Not quite. But still very distressing! *ensues to maul self*

--

Initiation

Part Six

--

It was ten minutes after Penny had gone on home. Kiki stayed parked on the bench, her sketchpad in hand, trying not to think about the conversation that had just transpired.

_Of course I wasn't too hard on her. Even if she's my first friend since… how many years has it been now?_ She gave up on that thought; it wasn't the kind of reassurance she needed. _…Whatever. She'll get over it… she has Rudy, and he's a much better friend than I could ever be. Although it's not like I told her to shove off and leave me alone forever…._

She shook her head, groaning.

_I shouldn't stress about it._

With that, all thoughts of Penny were forcibly dismissed. Kiki had other problems to worry about. Like… the misadventures of the evil overlord Blasphemy.

She pulled out her comic, carefully and slowly, so as not to dog-ear the corners of the paper. The girl laid it out over her binder, poising her hand over the page while her imagination was hard at work. 

_What kind of morbid mayhem will Blasphemy wreak today?_

That was the question that always seemed to linger whenever she tried to work. It was a difficult and tedious process, trying to come up with something new and original for her character to do. And that process was only made harder by all the distractions that buzzed by in the outside world. 

An enormous, beaten black bird hovered in the air above her, shuffling its wings awkwardly, barely staying airborne as it floated on the invisible thermal. It had obviously lost all its inspiration, all its will to live. It was old and downtrodden, and its caw sounded lost and pathetic. Kiki watched it with an intense fascination brought on by distress, as if doing so helped her forget her problems.

_I wonder what kind of bird it is. Hope it's not an endangered species, cuz this one looks like it's about to hit the pail. Penny would probably know… but I can't ask her. Not now. _

That girl had surfaced again. Kiki glared down at her paper with belittled determination. _Try caring about comics when your mind feels like it's constantly contradicting itself. _

With those thoughts, the blonde set down her pencil. She knew what she had to do. She wasn't actually going to _do_ it, but walking helped her organize her thoughts, and she knew it wasn't a good time to try and draw anyhow.

By this time, a good portion of the sun was shielded by the bulk of a passing cloud. It would mean a little relief from the heat. Even if it was just a little consolation to the blonde girl that walked along down below, she was thankful for it. 

With the weather being so tolerable, it wouldn't hurt too much to take a few detours. And Kiki knew where Penny's house was. She'd sat down in front of the local maps the night prior and memorized the location, as if she'd known the information would come in handy.

_I could stop by, and check to make sure she isn't upset. She's been a good friend… So far._

Even though it seemed logical, she ultimately decided against it, and continued on her way home, totally solo.

As she would go… for quite some time in the future, as the weeks passed on. 

--

Kiki had been in Plainsville for nearly a month.

Rudy and Penny, having apparently re-built their close friendship, sat together at lunch once again. They shared their own little inside jokes, talked amongst themselves in secretive tones… which were all normal things in a typical 10-year old friendship… Save for the whole 'disappearing for hours at a time' thing, which they'd also been known to do.

After that one afternoon, Kiki had avoided her Hispanic friend. Or maybe vice-versa was true. Either way, the two had barely interacted with one another. Their friendship had been close, but brief.

The blonde strayed away from all forms of social engagements; presently, she sat by her lonesome once more, leaning over her drawings. She gazed at them, uninterested, and did nothing to try and improve them. The motivation to draw was gone.

"Hey, Penny…" Rudy tapped her on the shoulder lightly. The two of them were sitting at a completely different table, amongst the other misfits of the school who accepted their presence. 

The girl was afraid of his question. She already knew his eyes rested on the girl several tables away, the only one in the lunchroom who sat totally alone. "Yes, Rudy?"

"How come you still haven't told me what's going on with you and Kiki?"

Penny felt her arms stiffen. She stared down at the table, trying to act nonchalant about it (and failing). "It just wasn't working."

"Oh, come on. That's what you always tell me." He leaned forward, listening intensely. "What's the whole story?"

"It's nothing. She realized I was keeping secrets from her…" -she gave him an accusing look as she said it- "And I guess we've just never talked since then."

He chuckled to himself, but it wasn't in an amused way. "And I actually started to feel ready to trust her."

"What?!"

"The strange creatures that used to ravage ChalkZone? The crazy pixies that chased Snap, the mutant chicken that ruined the show, the psychic lizard that destroyed the Globe Theatre? No traces of them have popped up ever since." He paused to cram a few French fries in his mouth. "…When you and Kiki stopped talking, that's when the monsters stopped."

She gazed at him quizzically. "And you're thinking the two events are connected? Rudy, that doesn't even make sense! Why would Kiki and I being friends cause monsters to invade ChalkZone? Pardon, but that's just _dumb_."

He shook his head. "I think she's upset… about the collapse of your friendship. That's why she hasn't drawn anything."

"Would you stop this 'Kiki' nonsense?! True, she theoretically could've been the monsters' source, but we don't have any solid proof. Besides… doesn't depression _inspire_ artists?" Her friend looked baffled at those words. "Oh, uh, I read a book on what motivates artistic minds."

"Anyway, Penny… I'm not _accusing_ her of anything anymore. I still think she drew those creatures, but creation-wise, she's been idle for a month. ChalkZone's been peaceful for a while. I think she might've changed. And anyway, weren't _you_ the one who kept trying to convince me that Kiki was-"

She cut him off quickly. "Forget her, Rudy." Her eyes bore down into her tray. "Just forget her."

He grunted in surprise. "…Fine." And, accordingly, Kiki was forgotten. He lowered his voice, deciding to change the subject. "So, you still wanna come by ChalkZone after school today?" 

"I… I, uh…" Penny had her own doubts. She knew she wasn't quite feeling up to it. But she'd promised Rudy just last period that she'd accompany him. And after a certain incident a month prior, she'd learned to respect her friends more faithfully. "Of course, Rudy. After all, I still don't trust you and Snap can look out for each other without supervision."

His grin returned. "Is that so? I'll see you at 3:30."

"Will do."

--

Snap paced the ground impatiently as he awaited Rudy's arrival. He knew the boy would come whenever he pleased, but the earliest he could hope for was 3:30, when their school let out. With yet another glance at the clock-tower (dubbed "Big Bennett"), he knew 3:30 was fast approaching.

"Where are they? If I have to walk around doing nothing for one more minute, I'm going to explode! Interesting people are never around on boring days. I almost preferred the pixies. The terrifying thrill of chase was somehow more enjoyable than this… At least running for dear life gave me something to do! "

He looked on out over the treetops, musing over the past few days. Well, more like the past few _weeks._ Whoever said there was never a dull moment in ChalkZone obviously hadn't suffered such a horribly dull _month_. 

But those thoughts were interrupted as something caught his eye. It was a glimmer of light, forming a circle in mid-air. Someone was coming through. Rudy, most likely. And indeed it was; the boy slid through the now-open portal, and his female counterpart followed suit. Snap felt a massive wave of relief flood through his system; finally, he could leave yawnville once and for all, because with Rudy, it was impossible to be bored (though it was probably because the boy had a tendency of getting he and his accomplices into all kinds of trouble). 

The bucktooth boy spoke casually. "What's up in CZ today?" 

"Nothing."

"Like what kind of nothing?"

"The _nothing _kind of nothing. Today has been a total yawn parade. Just like yesterday. And every day last week." 

Penny rolled her eyes. "Unlikely, Snap. In a place of such dynamic proportions, the chances of complete inactivity Zone-wide are slim."

"Rudy? An English translation would be nice?"

"I think she means _something's_ bound to have happened. You know, because ChalkZone is so big." Rudy gestured towards the city down the hill below them. "You wanna check out the city? We could ask a few Zoners if they know of anything going on."

"That's a great idea, Rudy." Penny gave Snap a triumphant look before following the boy as he continued along.

Snap was hesitant to trail behind them. He didn't think they'd have such luck finding something interesting to do. He was Snap, after all, the self-proclaimed knower of everything.

A rustle in the bushes to his left made him rethink his decision. Who knew what was in there- it could've been anything from an aroused fangirl to a toaster with wings. Of course, it was probably nothing, but still…

Snap tore his gaze away. "Hey, guys! Wait up!"

The three of them paraded into town. Two-thirds of their posse was eager and bright. Snap, however, just couldn't shake that 'being watched' feeling. Even as Rudy and Penny dragged him into ChalkZone City, where the chipper faces of innocent civilians were seen all around, he still had this nagging instinct…

"Hey ChalkDad!" Rudy waved to the little butcher, who was merrily sweeping away at the dusty ground. 

"Well, hey there, Rudy! What can I do ya for?"

Penny cut in. "Do you know of any special events going on in town today? Something even a little bit intriguing? _Snap_ says the city's been dead all month."

"I don't know about the rest of the city, but business has certainly been sluggish lately." ChalkDad admitted. "Not a single customer in days. I think a lot of people are on holiday this time of year."

The two kids shot confused glances at one another before the artistic of the pair spoke up. "What about Queen Rapsheeba, or one of those other music groups here in ChalkZone? Are they having any special performances?

ChalkDad opened his mouth to respond, but Snap was quick to interrupt. "Queen Rapsheeba doesn't have any scheduled events today."

Penny giggled fiendishly. "And I suppose you live by her schedule, huh Snap?"

"What's that supposed 'ta mean!?"

Rudy slapped his forehead in frustration. "Alright already… Cut it out, guys!" He turned to ChalkDad once again. "Thanks anyway. I guess we'll just be on our way."

He took both friends by the hand and dragged them out of the deli. Penny and Snap continued to bicker, but Rudy paid no heed to the angry words until a few minutes later, when the two seemed like they were on the verge of declaring war. He silenced them angrily.

"Now let's go. Snap, could you try and… not cause problems?!"

The blue boy's jaw nearly popped out of its socket. "What the-? Come on, bucko, she started it and you know _it_!"

"Enough!"

The three of them trekked outside the city once more. They stood on the grassy outskirts, not far from where they had assembled their picnic in the first few paragraphs of the story.

"Sometimes I wish we were part of a foursome, so I had someone to help control you guys. You're constantly at each other's throats." Rudy grumbled, as the trio continued on their way. 

"Well, if you didn't have to bring _her_ along in the first place, I wouldn't have anyone to argue with." Snap grumbled.

 Penny merely stomped her foot in protest, but said nothing. Sometimes she couldn't believe Rudy could put up with such an arrogant little sidekick. 

And not for the first time that month, Penny found herself wishing that she had an actual friend to talk with, who always sided with her, and would never ignore her feelings. _I came close to having that kind of friend - but I guess I blew it. _

"Rudy?" It was Snap, speaking to his creator cautiously. Penny considered ignoring the twos' conversation, but it wasn't like she had anything else to listen to. "Do you have this… feeling!?"

"What do you mean?"

"This feeling like… I don't know… like we aren't alone?"

"Well, Penny's behind us, if that's what you mean. And she's staying with us, Snap, whether you like it or not."

"This isn't still about her! I mean besides the three of us… Don't you get this feeling like someone else is around?"

Penny, still listening in, shook her head, almost in amusement. _Snap and his crazy suspicions…_

_Crazy. Totally crazy. Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy…_

_…_

_…_

_…_

_Waitaminute._

She looked around, at the chalky grass and the trees. Leaves, branches, and blades of grass all billowed in the breeze, whipping in the wild wind freely (a likewise effect was happening with her hair). It was a very windy day, and everything loose was waving…

All except one bush, somewhere ahead of them, in the clearing. The shrubs it stood among all whipped, waved, and billowed as they should've. But not that specific bush, no. Defying the laws of physics, it stood absolutely still. Not a twig stirred.

But the leaves started to _flicker_. 

And then _waver_.

And no sooner had this silent discovery been made than did that very bush disappear, and in its place, a slender white form stood. It was distinctively reptilian, with red bands among its wrists and ankles. 

It leapt from what had been its hiding place, landing right before her. Too terrified to scream, she gazed upward into its eyes. They were deep, and pigmented of an impossibly empty ruby red. The eyes showed wisdom, intelligence… hatred.

Rudy and Snap had melted into the background. Everything was irrelevant except that horrible lizard-esque demon, which stood poised above her, both eyes boring down into her own. 

It raised a long arm - inhumanly long - and instantly its entire form began to glow. It glowed blue… it was an eerie glow. 

And she realized, disbelieving, that her own body was glowing with that strange blue hue as well.

"What's going on? Snap?! Ruudddyyyyyyyy-?"

Her mind began to fade. The world was growing darker. 

"…Guys?! Kiki? …Anyone?"

--

A/N: Wow, that was a weird chap. o0;; I figured it was high time for some traces of actual PLOT.


	9. In Warm Regards

A/N:Like all of my others, this story will be revamped a zillion times until its insides start to spew. I think I rushed it along too quickly; I need to add a chapter somewhere between 3 or 4 (or 4 and 5) that emphasizes Penny and Kiki's (former) friendship. That "lost chapter" will be coming soon. =3

Thank you all for reviewing. As for you, SoL, take your time on that fanfic. Nobody's rushing you. Well, except me. But y'already knew that, didn'tcha? 

--

Initiation

Part Seven

--

_ Dizzy. Spinning. Vertigo. Zero-gravity. _

Penny shivered.

_Nothing._

She couldn't remember anything. Her mind was a blur. All she could think about was the blank and empty void her conscious seemed to be lingering about in; and the terrible white reptile that she thought she'd just seen.

_Where did he go? Who was he? What did he want?_

Her head was buzzing with questions that even a girl genius couldn't figure out. A subconscious moan escaped her throat, as she tried to make heads or tails out of what was going on.

_My whole body felt like it evaporated into nothing… and that blue, icy-cold glow… like the demon's eyes… _

She was getting somewhere, at least.

_But where am I now?_

She began to fantasize; not on where she possibly _was_, but on where she possibly _could have been _at the moment, had that reptile not come along. Penny could've been at home, helping her mom with the rejuvenation clinic (after all, she was the animal shelter's heiress). She could've been safely in her room, pondering over college-level math, or perfecting a few of her formulas.

_Why didn't Rudy and I stay home?_

Rudy; ah yes, where was he? What had happened to him and Snap? Penny wondered about this a moment- before suddenly, her heart turned stone-cold.

_What if… that thing… got rid of them?_

But then another thought took its place.

_Or… what if I'm the one who's dead?_

She didn't want to think about it, didn't want to question, didn't want to carry on. Maybe it was just a nightmare (one induced from stress, overworking, or an unhealthy dosage of 'salami surprise' from the school cafeteria), and she would wake up, just as alive and practical as she'd always been.

The girl clenched her eyes shut. Tried to think good thoughts. If she focused hard enough, she could practically see herself lying there on the grassy chalk-ground where she'd last been conscious, with Rudy and Snap at her side. The three of them were sitting in a circle on the ground, having finally found something to do. 

"Penny! Penny, come on, are you alright?"

"Don't bother, bucko - she's got that dazed glint in her eye. We can't make contact with someone in this condition… What'cha lookin' at me for? Hey, I watch a lot of late-night emergency health shows, okay?! I get bored sometimes."

Suddenly the entire world came snapping back. The color, the sound, the feeling… everything came flowing back into her system. It was the same effect as replacing a fizzy-screened, low-resolution television set with the latest digital version, in vivid color, accompanied by high-quality stereo.

Penny was in ChalkZone. The lizard-like demon was gone, and, just as she had left them, Rudy and Snap were there. The two of them appeared to be crouching above her… though she believed herself to still be dreaming. Uncertainly, she reached a hand out to feel the boy's shoulder… to her surprise, he was no figment. 

Her eyes traveled downwards, slowly, hesitantly. She began to doubt reality once more after she found herself in Rudy's arms, a couple of inches off the ground, on his lap even. He was kneeling with both knees to the ground, keeping her cradled in his embrace, gazing down at her in concern.

Something within her fluttered. _Now I know I'm dreaming._

"Hey, I think she's finally joined us in reality!" An accented voice cried.

"Shhh, Snap!" Rudy scolded him, and looked out over his female friend once more. "Are you okay, Penny? You passed out cold right in that spot - we were getting ready to call a doctor."

Penny, too shocked to speak, merely rose into a sitting position, while keeping a trembling hand pressed against her pulsing forehead. "I… I can't explain it. I was feeling fine. But does this mean…" Her breath hitched, and then accelerated, as her thoughts began to race. "…Y-you don't remember anything? That… the reptile was never there, and the bush and… and…" She studied his expression - totally baffled. "…you don't?"

Rudy started to respond, but as expected, Snap cut him off.

"Buckette's gone whoopy-cuckoo, Rudy!" He spiraled one gloved finger around his blue forehead for emphasis. "She's on her way to the padded rooms! She hit her head too hard on impact! She's absolutely _crazy_!"

Rudy tried to ignore Snap's screech in the background as he made an attempt to comfort Penny. She looked very distraught, as if she were zoning out… something in her midday nightmare must have really frightened her. Realizing, with an embarrassed flush, he still had one arm around her, he used it to his advantage and hesitantly pulled her a little closer towards himself.

Her body, previously wracked with shiver-like spasms, settled into a calm state.

"Rudy, I… believe this is serious," She spoke after a long silence (save for Snap, who presently was going on about Penny being a 'loony duck'), staring down at the ground in desperation. "The kind of dream I had is not a common occurrence. Things like this are believed to signify the approach of events of paramount importance. Events that are often predicted by what was seen in the dream," Still explaining, she tried to keep a straight face. "I'm not worrying on behalf of myself, but all of ChalkZone. We may not have heard the last of that reptile-demon… In fact, I'll bet the one from my dream is whom we heard about a month ago… the one that destroyed the Globe Theatre."

Rudy felt his face turn skeptical. He knew Penny was always one for logic, but what she'd just described to him didn't seem very practical at all. What was he supposed to say to that? "Uh… Penny, it was just a dream. Are you really that worried?"

For a moment, Penny sided with him. Her worried brow line lifted up off of her dark gray eyes, as she ignored her intuition and tried to forget the dream. Maybe Rudy was right. After all, she was a little tired when she left school… maybe, for some reason, as they were walking through the grassy outskirts of ChalkZone City, her subconscious mind had deemed it a suitable time to sleep. Maybe it was just a normal nightmare, like the kind that everyone had.

But then she remembered the lizard's cold glare. That frosted feeling in her veins still lingered when she recalled every haunting detail of the memory.

"You probably think it's foolish. But yes, Rudy, I am worried. And I believe I have good reason. I think I'll head back to the real world- I should be getting home soon, anyway."

Ordinarily, Rudy would be opposed to the idea, but in light of recent events, he wasn't surprised at her decision. "That's fine. Want me to walk you?"

"Actually, I'm not going _straight_ home. I've got some research to do first… at school."

--

Penny didn't even have to try and think about the dream. It was still a fresh memory, bouncing about aimlessly in her active mind. The trouble was going to be finding someone - anyone - who knew enough about those visions to give her the information she needed.

After having found nothing in writing pertaining to the subject, she had to resort to the worldwide web. She was in the dustiest corner of the school library (which she had just ransacked for books only minutes prior), so that no curious eyes should happen to peer over her shoulder. Penny didn't want to explain why she, Plainville Elementary's most respected young scientific mind, was digging around through psychologists' homepages. 

It didn't take long with her apt computer skills (these were found apparent in most geniuses). Within twenty-six minutes, she came across the website of a wise old dream therapist whom Penny was certain would be able to help.

She printed the site's contents and took them home for further study.

--

On the other side of town, Kiki slowly trudged across the sidewalk without aim, unafraid to hide her depressive slump.

Within a few weeks, that same mood, which always seemed to hover in the air around her like some kind of misty aura, had become her new distinctive trait. Strangers at school began to secretly address her as 'that gloomy new kid who sits by herself at lunch'. Maybe not the _nicest_ nickname, but it was indeed quite accurate.

The abrupt end of a friendship with Penny hadn't done much for Kiki's state-of-mind, but that wasn't the sole cause. For it was nearing that time of year when Kiki was generally always a little off; no matter what mood she was usually in or what conditions time had thrown at her.

It was time of year when her parents came home for the Thanksgiving holiday.

But this time around, it was exceptionally worse. Kiki knew this year, her parents _weren't_ coming home for Thanksgiving holiday. It wasn't as if she had any solid proof, just an intuition… and her intuition was never wrong.

Nearly everyone who passed that day noticed the blonde girl lingering outside the doors of the post office, as if unsure whether or not to go in and check with the postman. Excitement and doubt began to build up inside of her, overriding her better judgement and causing her to feel sick with nostalgia. Because somehow she knew there'd be a letter in there, addressed just to her, and it would bear nothing but bad news.

When the postman handed her that envelope, enameled with the familiar diplomatic seal, she nearly ripped the top straight off, but stopped herself at the last minute - appearing rabid in public had never gotten her anywhere.

The walk home began. Biding her time, she slowly opened the envelope, in a nice and neat fashion so that the paper never once wrinkled or tore. The little package's contents, however, were handled in a much less caring manner. She tried not to seem very concerned about what that letter said; tried not to get too worked up about it; tried not to let it effect her. She almost wanted to try and _not_ read it, but that was definitely an impossible stretch.

_ Dearest daughter,_

_The crisis in Santa Fe has turned out to be an uproarious disaster of proportions nobody could have predicted. We will end up staying longer than we thought._

_There is no need for concern. Your loving parents will still be home for Thanksgiving of next year, after we take care of hunger problems in Iraq._

_What we have in our account should pay for all medical and/or tax endorsement issues you may run into. This should cover your food supply as well. Money should be no complication. Fax our consultant, Mrs. Wilfored, should you have any outward problems that don't fall within that margin. _

_Regards,_

_Celia and Sam Callisto_

"Regards. _Regards_." Kiki repeated to herself, not knowing what she was trying to prove. "So that's what they send to their only daughter, living over a hundred-thousand miles away… their _regards_."

_Oh, yeah. If you took all the love in the connection between me in my parents, you'd have enough gases to fill a balloon. _

She grimaced further.

_A really, really _small_ balloon_.

Kiki marched through her front door, the letter still bent and twisted in her harsh grasp. She flung it upon the living room table (amidst a small cluster of rats) and retreated to her room, all the way up the creaky stairs, until school and the post office and her parents were naught but a distant memory.

Besides, she had something better than "regards" from her so-called loving parents. 

She had imagination. Ideas.

Her eyes traveled to her comic. The kempt white pages lay inches from her hand, making their content easy to read. It was, of course, another chapter in the horrible, gruesome life of Blasphemy… the psychic, destructive master of the night. The one who possessed many foreign abilities; mind control, the forceful inducing of nightmares, and a telekinetic glare that sent its victims into prolonged torturous pain.

Much as it seemed ironic, Blasphemy had always been her inspiration.

A slender white hand reached into its owners knapsack, which lay strewn across the floor. It emerged with something glistening and white, something that might've seemed ordinary to any other person.

The blonde marched over to the chalkboard and made her way through, not even bothering to don the long, concealing robes beforehand. Normally, she would always wear them, so as to repress her true identity from the public. But today, she didn't care. In her present state, she was unafraid of what the authorities might threaten to do to her once they realized she was walking around in their world again. _Though really,_ she thought, _so what if Zoners recognize me? _

It wasn't like anyone could stop Lady Kyrene… let alone when she was in such a foul mood.

--

A/N - Wow… As if THAT wasn't predictable a mile away…

Actually, just for spoilers BTW, Kiki isn't going to be the antagonist in this story.


	10. Quite Contrary

Initiation

Part Nine

--

"Ah, it's… a fine day, eh, Comrade Blocky?"

Fly zipped by her rectangular friend, lazily doing cartwheels in midair, trying to disguise her boredom.

"I don't know!" Blocky lamented. "It's been very dull…"

Snap sat beside the two of them, paddleball-ing with himself, silently keeping track. He was up to nine-hundred thus far… He had begun ever since Rudy had returned to the real world. "Ah, come on! You two are such squares. Can't have a little fun?"

"Funny you should say that, comrade." Fly gestured towards the paddleball.

"What? It is actually VERY entertaining."

Snap struggled to keep his eyes open, watching the bouncy little ball go up-and-down, and up-and-down, over and over again… _911… 912… 913…_

"Hey, Snap! Who's that?!" Blocky asked out of nowhere, pointing towards the horizon with one primitive appendage.

Snap took a sideways glance. There were two figures heading towards them from afar. Both were slender, but one was twice the size of his or her counterpart.

The blue boy heaved a shrug. "I dunno. Maybe they're new to ChalkZone. I've never seen them before." His eyes returned to the paddle racket in hand. _929… 930… 931…_

Fly was paying more attention -  she was desperate for something to do. "Tell you what, Blocky-  I will greet these newcomers, and find out a little more about them. In no time, I will be back."

She buzzed off in the figures' direction.

"You do that, SpyFly." _934… 935… 936…_

Snap and Blocky sat in silence.

_937… 938… 939…_

_…_

_963… 964… 965…_

…

_981… 982… 983… _

The blue one was about to nod off when Fly made her return. Her rather _frantic_ return.

"Comrades Snap! Blocky! Do you know who I saw?!"

"Who? Who!?" Blocky blabbed, as if his entire being depended on it.

"Yeah, SpyFly." Snap set down his paddle racket. "Who's got your wings so rattled?"

Fly pointed back to the two approaching figures. Their faces were much clearer now.

Snap gasped. "Holy macaroni… I don't believe it! It's… The globe theatre's saboteur!" He pointed towards the taller of the two.

"…Don't you recognize the _other_ one!?" Fly demanded.

"…Nah-uh. She looks human, though… Freakishly human. Someone with talent must've drawn her."

"She's _totally_ human, Comrade! She iz Lady Kyrene!"

"Oh, brotha! That witch!? …And those two troublemakas have formed an alliance, now, too! Oh, this is just great!"

"I don't recognize them." Blocky whined. "The tall one looks like a lizard, though."

Snap studied its markings… white with red bands.

_The globe theatre… Penny's dream… But what is it!? _

--

She ignored the odd stares.

Some of them recognized her. But as far as she could tell, no mass panic was ensuing. She continued on her way, totally dignified, with a tall six-foot lizard at her side…

Her most prized creation.

She rubbed its foreleg in an almost slavish fashion.

Kyrene.

The voice entered her mind, but no words were spoken.

"What is it… master?"

Where… where is the boy?

She flinched.

"…He must have left." She stared up at her master's glory; his magnificent beak-esque snout… the cold glare of his eyes…

She had drawn him so perfectly…

Again?!

"I'm sorry."

You can't let him keep escaping like this…

"It won't happen again."

I know… because if it does…

She gulped.

He glared, without using his eyes.

That sort of glare was the most painful kind.

I offer to make you a ruler… but you can't even perform such a simple task…

"Rudy isn't such a bad guy…"

We would _rule_ here. And that boy is the only one standing in our way.

His eyes flashed blue.

"You never told me… What we intended to do with him."

…

There's only one way to deal with someone like that.

"Hey… We're not going to… _kill_ him, are we?" Her voice was small and pathetic.

Millions of your kind… one loss… it would be no great tragedy.

He was so horrible. He was the very epitome of betrayal, her master was. But for some reason… She didn't care.

She clung to his leg.

"There are too many people on Earth. We're a stupid race… And the Darwin Theory states that the weakest will die."

Tabootie is weak. We can do away with him. And not with brute strength, like some of the other morons in this world.

"Skrawl?" She wasn't sure who Skrawl was, but she'd heard his name a couple of times. Not exactly a colleague of her master's.

Skrawl's techniques were old-fashioned… primitive… weak. We will get through to Tabootie… a different way.

She stared down at the ground. Her eyes… "Penny?"

Her own eyes were lined with tears.

She gasped at this realization…

I've observed. That girl… She's his one true weakness. His voice, even telepathic, was spiteful. That's why we _need_ her.

_No…_ "Yes, I understand." She began to rub his ivory scales. They were pure white; but the glow they gave off was a shiny shade of blue.

Retrieve her.

"I will."

_Now,_ Kyrene.

"N-Now?!"

She felt herself being shoved away, with one sweep of his powerful tail.

That was an order.

She ground her feet into the ground.

This is _betrayal._

"I don't want to go."

We had a deal.

"You can't boss me around. I'm _your_ creator… You should be respecting _me_!"

I thought you _liked_ me, Kyrene. I'm your brainchild, remember?!

"I can't get Penny like this! It's a lie. It's betrayal."

She refused to move.

"Why do you want me to do this?!" She demanded.

The response was short and blunt; Why'd you name me Blasphemy?

…

Now go. I'm not giving you an option. You know what will happen… should you disobey…

She nearly choked on the tears in her throat.

"Y-yes… Master…"

Kiki's feet felt numb beneath her as she headed off against her will.

She felt Blasphemy's hard gaze trailing after her.

_…Why am I obeying!?…_

Though she was ashamed to admit it, she knew she loved her creation. He was her stroke of genius… her precious brainchild. She almost couldn't bear to disobey.

She almost couldn't bear to obey, either.

If only his orders weren't so unpleasant.

…

--

…

It was 11:35, PM.

Most eleven year olds would be sleeping.

Rudy and Penny lay, awake, each in their own separate beds in their own separate houses. By the girl's arm lay a stack of papers… her studies on dreams. By the boy's leg rested a box of his chalk, which he kept a watchful eye on as he went to sleep.

Penny stared up at the ceiling in disbelief. After hours spent researching strange mid-day nightmares… she still came up with nothing. The dream therapist she had found online reasoned that dreams were glances at forthcoming events, and were often triggered by excessive worrying. Well, Penny didn't remember worrying any, before she'd had the dream. And certainly not of any_ lizard_, even since the Globe Theatre had been destroyed. It just didn't make any sense.

The only other explanation was that it had been a random bad dream. Maybe it was nothing to worry over. Or maybe she really _was_ crazy, just as Snap had so rudely insisted…

She shook her head. "That is _unacceptable_. Penelope Sanchez, you are NOT going insane."  

Sitting up in bed, the girl gave herself a quick look-over in the mirror on the wall. A few loose strands of hair ricocheted from her head, astray from its normal style. With one finger, she brushed it back behind her ears, adjusting her glasses while she was at it.

_I'm not insane, am I? …I look a little unpresentable, but certainly not mad. _

Her mind wandered to earlier that day… "I wonder what Rudy's doing."

_He's probably sleeping, duh._

She laid back down in bed, trying to think of something else. Something else that would help her clear her thoughts, and stop pondering of crazy dreams, and Rudy, and whether or not she was losing her mind.

_I'm not crazy. Maybe everyone else is crazy, maybe I'm not. Maybe that dream meant nothing. Maybe mayonnaise on a biscuit is truly unfunny. Maybe-_

She paused in mid-sentence, sensing something wrong.

The blackboard was shimmering.

Her voice was little more than a stammer. She clasped the dream research behind her back. "Rudy…?"

The portal became fully-fledged, and into Penny's room poked a familiar head. But instead of tawny brown hair, she saw locks of golden-blonde.

"K-Kiki?!" Indeed, it was. _But how?!_

Penny's breath hitched. She scrunched herself up among the sheets, assuming a defensive posture as if the blonde would suddenly transmogrify into some kind of cobra.

"W-What are you- how did you… Did Rudy give you…?!?"

In less than a second, it seemed, Kiki was seated at the bed beside her, and one of her white hands was clamped across the Hispanic's mouth.

"Rudy, Rudy, Rudy… even now, he's all you can talk about."

Penny tried to relax - it was Kiki, not some kind of demon. So why did she still feel like screaming?

She tried to talk, but with Kiki's hand in the way, the words came out as muffled slurs of speech.

So she tried to scream. But that wasn't too effective either.

"Penny, you have no idea what Rudy's done to you… he's made you… less aware. Dependent on him."

The smarter of the two wrangled her arms up from under her, and managed to pry Kiki's hand a few inches from her mouth. "That's ridiculous!" She declared in protest. "Rudy and I are a team. Kiki, you have no idea-"

The hand came back down on her lips, blocking off speech once more.

"Penny. We haven't spoken for a month. But you HAVE to trust me on this."

The Hispanic felt herself being lifted to her feet, and plundering towards the portal. Kiki followed suite.

Penny felt cold. There was a chilly feeling in her blood…

She was walking to the portal…

Voluntarily?!

But… _Huh?_

_W-What's going on!?_

"Mind control. Something else at my disposal… along with the 'forceful inducing of nightmares'." The blonde explained, from somewhere behind her. Her voice sounded hollow and desolate.

_Mind control? But… but that's impossible…_

"By the way, Penny…" Kiki stared down at the ground, as if her own words were venomous. "There's a friend of mine… who's been dying to meet you…"

--

A/N: I'm tired. And confuzzled. Oh  yeah. Go me.


	11. The Helpless Worm

A/N: OMG I AM LYK UPDATING HOORAY.

--

Initiation

Part Ten

--

Penny struggled to shut her eyes as Kiki and Blasphemy led her along. But she couldn't; she was too intrigued by their surroundings.

They were plodding straight through the middle of DayZone, past Zoners she knew, past friendly, familiar faces… Most of them were ignoring her and her guides.

She tried to speak, but her lips wouldn't move. Literally- she was no longer in control of herself. But she had so many questions…

_Hey… if Blasphemy's psychic, he should be able to read minds!_ She realized with a jolt, gazing up at the one in question_. It's worth a shot -_

It's the way she created me, child.

Penny felt her eyes widen - it seemed they were the only part of her body she could still control._ …You heard that?! _

_I_ hear thoughts how _you_ hear words. I can't hear like you can - but beings will say what they're thinking. It's just as efficient.

_If you and Kiki are such villains, why isn't anyone noticing you?! It's like you're not even around!_

Do you think those fools would bother pursuing after evildoers with power? It's not a trick question, is it, Penita?

The girl stared down at the ground in confusion. _I know some of these Zoners so well… Surely they'd be at least a _little_ worried for my sake? …Or am I less popular here than I thought?_

You're trailing behind us in such a casual order - they won't suspect anything. They look up to you and your soulmate's decisions.

A sick feeling washed over the Hispanic as she realized he was right. With Blasphemy's manipulative powers controlling her actions, no one would have reason to feel threatened.

You get it now.

_I really wish I didn't._ She hoped he wouldn't reply - just because she was thinking it doesn't mean he had to listen in. It felt like a total invasion of privacy.

The minutes passed. The girl's body still trodded along against her will - but deep within the recesses of her mind, the real Penny was scrunched up in a ball with her knees to her elbows, burying her head in her arms as she thought about the desperation of the situation.

_My only hope now is Rudy - but how is he going to know what he's up against?_

I'm not concerned - he'll definitely come.

_He's going to come with the aims of teaching you and your creator a lesson. _She thought grimly._ Is that supposed to be a comforting thought, you monster?_

I took all of it into consideration as I plotted your kidnapping. It's all part of the ploy.

_W-what?!_

Perhaps you would understand better in human terms - we're fishing for a Great Creator and _you're_ the worm.

Those words were what cut the final string. Maybe it was the terms he used, or the way he said it. But suddenly the real Penny, locked away in her own mind, began to break down into strangled sobs.

Her actual body remained indifferent.

_Kiki. Kiki, my friend… We don't speak for a month… and she does this?_

She couldn't accept it, simply couldn't. Never before had she felt betrayal… With friends like Rudy and Snap, who would?

Penny managed to turn her head just the slightest. Kiki trodded along on Blasphemy's other side. Her face was hidden from view; her long blonde locks drooped carelessly to the sides of her head. She hadn't spoken or moved at all since they entered ChalkZone… Just as well, Penny figured, she would never be able to trust that girl again.

_Well, at least I won't make the same mistake next time… Because from the looks of things… There certainly wouldn't _be_ a next time._

People weren't meant to be trusted and, well, you made that fatal error.

But she didn't want Blasphemy to agree with her. If anything, she wanted him to shut up. She wanted nothing to do with him or his all-mighty creator. Unfortunately, it looked like she'd be traveling with them for a while, there was just no avoiding them.

The desperate thoughts just kept flooding. It distressed her that he couldn't help eavesdropping, but what she really feared was for him to comment; somehow she had a harder time believing it was really happening if he just kept quiet.

_I would give anything to be back home right now… Back home with the dogs in their cages… The books, right where I left them on the shelf… Mom's probably home… maybe she heard the noise, I wonder if she's worried?_

But more crushing than the homesickness was the absence of her best friend. Nevertheless, she prayed he wouldn't come, although her heart yearned for the company, because his arrival meant his demise.

--

"Penita? …"

The door gently creaked open.

"Penny… Penny? I heard noises coming from up here - you better not have smuggled anything _alive_ into your room again! The rejuvenation clinic is run downstairs and downstairs _only_."

But there was no reply - no "Yes, sorry mama" or "No animals this time" or "I'll try working on quieter experiments" - those were basically the guideline set of Penny's excuses.

A brow raised. Mrs. Sanchez flicked on the light, expecting to see a mess of liquid goo from overflowing beakers, or an extra lump in the bedcovers (a pathetic attempt at hiding for whenever Penny managed to sneak in one of her favorite dogs from the clinic). But there was nothing. In fact, there wasn't even a _single_ lump in the bedcovers. Penny was nowhere in sight.

"…What in de _world_?! Oh, where is that _hija traviesa_ of mine!?"

Annoyance quickly turning to worry, Mrs. Sanchez began to examine the rest of upstairs, and then, coming up empty-handed, a second time, this time more thoroughly. Still, no one.

It took about three seconds for worry to blossom into panic.

She could've been kidnapped! She could've run away!

And then the answer came to her.

"It's got to be Rudy." The situation had his name written all over it. It seemed that whenever something unusual happened to her otherwise respectable genius-of-a-daughter, it always, somehow, indirectly or not, had something to do with _him_. "That girl had better not set one foot near his house at this hour or I'll have her chemistry set…"

But at the same time, she prayed that it was indeed where Penny had gone… because where else would she be?__

_--_

_C-can you at LEAST tell me why we're parading through DayZone like this?! Just because _most_ Zoners probably won't be worried doesn't mean that we should take this path! It's still risky…_

I thought you'd prefer the more _scenic_ route. These Zoners are you friends, correct? But I guess your logic isn't unfounded - walking right through here, so close to where you want to be, and yet unable to control your own free will, is that it?

_My own free will is STILL my own free will, you know. It's just my body that you've taken._

Either way, he began, not seeming to have heard her, We're almost out of the sunshine - so take a good look around while it lasts.

Penny, suddenly thankful that she could still control her eyes, did as he suggested, and absorbed the last few memories of DayZone she knew she'd probably have. The warmth, the sun, the happy faces - literally, Happy Face Village was having a palooza in the street - and those were all the glances it took before she determined that she really, really didn't want to continue on.

The entire scene was so happy, so normal - only she was being led amongst it, against her free will by a dangerous backstabbing delinquent, and her deadlier Psychic counterpart.

And it was as if none of the Zoners even cared - they weren't reacting. She didn't blame it on them though, most of them hadn't the slightest clue of what was going on…

Penny's breath suddenly hitched in her throat. Before she closed her eyes, her gaze had fallen upon two distinct silhouettes in the background. One of them had an oversized circular head, a misshapen bandana, and a simplistic body composed of different basic shapes, like some curious teenage artist had gone wild with the vector tool.

_It's… It's Snap! Oh, thank god… I never thought I'd be so happy to see him! _

_T_he momentary burst of hope was soon trampled upon by Blasphemy's hollow psychic voice. __

Oh… the blue one. He sounded… almost amused. Snap - Tabootie's blundering sidekick. I would enjoy his reaction to this scene, however. I believe he may know who we are.

Penny squinted a little harder - who _was _Snap talking to? …Somebody rectangular - _Blocky_! And if she really strained her eyes she could make out a tiny dot - _Fly_ - zipping about around their heads.

_Oh please let them look this way…_

For the first time all day, Lady Luck must've taken pity on the poor girl. Simultaneously Snap's head and Blocky's head/body turned to face Penny and her hosts. She could practically hear Snap's accented voice in her head: "Hoi kalloi… Hangin' out with _those_ two! Dat girl's weird, I knew it from the start…"

You do know there's no hope for you, right?

But Penny ignored him. Finally, someone had noticed that she wasn't quite herself… And if Snap found out, soon all of ChalkZone would know. Let's see Blasphemy worm his way out of this one-

"Penny?!" And here he came, rounding the corners, quickly but still of some hesitance; she could see the mental conflict taking place in his head. On one hand, there was a perfectly calm Penny, which made the situation safe. But on the other, there were two of ChalkZone's most renowned villains standing right beside her. Blasphemy, as usual, displayed no emotion (he had no mouth or pupils), but Kiki's expression was nothing short of bitter.

Snap stopped at about ten feet away.

"What happened? And… why are you…" He stopped in mid-sentence, gulping. "W-who are those two?" He was testing her to see if _she_ knew.

Penny knew Snap would become gradually more and more suspicious if she withheld a response. Why, with no control over her lips, she wouldn't be able to speak her mind; but silence got the message across too.

Only before she knew it - she heard someone speaking. Speaking with _her_ voice!

"Oh, hey, Snap." The sound was coming from her lips, but she wasn't the one saying them. Her gaze traveled to Blasphemy… his own eyes, normally a blank white like the rest of his body, were shimmering blue.

_Wha - STOP IT! _Her thoughts raged, though she knew it would do no good. She had the power to do nothing. Blasphemy, on the other hand, could not only control her body but her voice as well!

"This is Kiki," She drawled; it was very much in Penny's voice but not at all in her tone. It was missing her usual lisp - instead, her words had inherited Blasphemy's dark, monotonous huff.

"And… what about…" Snap gestured towards the six-foot white reptile, finding words to fail him. "Haven't we seen him somewhere before?! I was always under the impression that he was… well, and don't take this the wrong way, Whitey…" He added, eyeing Blasphemy nervously, "…Evil."

And at that, "Penny" snorted in obvious annoyance.

"His name is Blasphemy, and his powers aren't to be conversed in nonchalance." Her teeth were gritted. "It was his abilities that have nearly brought ChalkZone's demise before, and since then he has only grown stronger."

Snap obviously wasn't expecting her to respond so touchily - then again, to see Penny strolling along with Lady Kyrene and The Darkest Creation right through the middle of grassy DayZone was a bit of a shock all in itself…

"You," Snap gasped breathlessly, finally realizing it all. Accusingly, he ground a gloved finger in Blasphemy's direction, his big white eyes quivering in sudden fear. "You _are_ The Darkest Creation! Do you know how much of a legend you've become? Dark, horrible legend, too! Common scary story that you hear on camping trips…"

Kiki, who had been lurking in Blasphemy's shadow for the entire journey thus far, poked her head out and gave the blue one a remorseful glare. "Do you think, that when Blasphemy first existed on that chalkboard six years ago, that I had _ANY_ idea he would live to haunt innocent people?!"

The clueless civilians of ChalkZone… Innocent people. Blasphemy's eyes began to sparkle in that menacing way again. He was speaking with his own voice once more; but Penny still found herself unable to talk. The great white lizard turned to stare down at his creator, seething without emotion. You… Not-so-innocent. And do you know why?!

Penny glowered to herself. _Because she's a backstabbing scoundrel?_

"Because you, Kyrene, created me dead."

--

A/N: OMGOMGOMG!!!! SUSPENSE! (next chapter hopefully to come before an entire month…)


End file.
